Unknown Intentions
by teal2indigo
Summary: She tried to protect her squad, her friends, and herself; but war and betrayals resurged. Now of all times, he comes back to ask for forgiveness. Now, they realize their true feelings for each other. HitsuOC. DISCONTIUNED/RE-WRITE UNDERWAY
1. Chapter 1

Note: the story used to be called "**Under the Moon"**

--------------------------------------------

Prologue: **Encounter**

_**My story began a long time ago. It's been 22 years, 22 years since that day rainy day that would change my life, and the lives of quite a few other people around me.**_

-Night, West Rukongai, 2nd District-

"You should become a shinigami." The dragon of water said to the girl.

"I've already told you: I don't want to be a shinigami, at least not yet." The young girl retorted.

"You are strong, very strong. I am ready to serve you. I can help you reach your full potential when you are a shinigami." The dragon pressed.

"Mizu," That's the dragon's name, as she told the girl in her first week in Soul Society. "I'm really tired tonight, can't we argue about this tomorrow? Besides, why do I have to become a shinigami?"

"Because it's your destiny: you have the gift. Strong reiatsu and the ability to control it is essential in the shinigami arts. You are blessed with extremely high amount of reiatsu and you can control it impeccably without effort. That's why I am ready to serve you without you even becoming a soul reaper. That's why you can hear my name the first time I revealed myself to you; I assure you that it hardly ever happens. You also possess very proficient swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat capabilities. You'll master the Shikai of your zanpakutou in no time, and then bankai…"

"I'll think about it." The young girl said half-heartedly as she yawned and slipped into a dreamless sleep. The dragon in her soul sighed. The girl just doesn't realize how strong she really is. Although she can control her power well enough so that she isn't hurting anyone, she can do a lot more when she learns how strong and special she really is.

The time for her is coming…

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

-next day, evening-

Misawa Rena sighed with relief when the bell rang for the end of the day's work: she was exhausted. It was another busy day at the small apothecary shop in the 2nd District where she worked. By now her legs throbbed from standing almost the whole day. Her shoulders, especially the right one, ached, since she had to carry and handle a lot of boxes, mixing up the prescriptions, and write out the instructions. This was one of those days when the fact she has extremely neat handwriting seemed like a curse. And on top of all her physical pain, she had a major headache, due to the fact she spent earlier part of the night debating with Mizu, the "imaginary" dragon in her head, about the reasons and necessity of becoming a shinigami.

She couldn't help to think over what the dragon had said over the course of the day. It was true that she had strong amount of reiatsu; she learned that when she was studying basic healing techniques with the chief healer at this very apothecary shop when she just came to Soul Society half-a-year ago. She also knew that she had good control over it. Rena herself is also quite adept at swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat. Like her perfect and neat handwriting, and her impeccable mannerism, and the ability to control her tremendous reiatsu, those are things she just knew. She had all the things Mizu the dragon said she would need to become a powerful shinigami, but should she?

Rena's thoughts were disturbed as she her friend, Kenji, called her. "Rena-chan, want to buy some fruit before heading home?"

"Sure." She answered and smiled in response, and for for a moment, forgot all about Mizu the dragon and becoming a shinigami.

Together, the two youngsters stepped out on to the streets. Kenji looked about 16 and had brown hair and blue eyes. Rena had waist-length black hair and large brown eyes, but despite the fact her features are expected to be very plain, she actually looked exceedingly attractive. Her facial features looked no older than 14, but the calm and serene expression she always wears make her seem much older. They were both dressed in plain gray kimonos given by the shop and merged into the crowed in markets.

_'It's going to rain. The are a lot of water in the air.'_ Rena thought to herself as she stepped into the opening outside with Kenji. She is sensitive to water. She loves water, all forms of it. She is connected to it in a way, and…_Mizu is made of water_. But she was not at peace. She could feel a battle very close to where they are; not close enough to be seen or heard, but close enough that she can feel everything that's happening by sensing the movements in the spiritual pressure.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

-outskirts of the 2nd district-

Matsumoto Rangiku, the lieutenant of the 10th division, grunted in pain as she crashed hard against the ground. The mission was underrated: there's no way a lieutenant alone could handle this group of hollows. Despite the fact she brought three unseated officers with her, they were more of a hindrance than help in the ferocious battle. Thanks to her experience, Matsumoto was already on the last hollow, but she is also exhausted and seriously injured, and she was unable to protect her subordinates when they fell one after one. As she inflicted the final blow to finish off her enemy, she also received one that drove her hard into ground for who know how many times today. She only managed to stay conscious a few seconds longer than her dying opponent.

"...Humph, stupid shinigami if finally getting exactly what she deserves…"

"...Leave her to die…"

"...Get away from this thing…"

Matsumoto could hear these comments as she layed there half-conscious, and if she wasn't too injured or too weak, she would have been extremely upset. She knew that the people of the Rukongai are not particularly fond of shinigami, but the only reason she was in that state was because she was fighting against monsters that are endangering their lives. Intentional or not, she was protecting them and they were not the most appreciative folks.

It started raining, and the rain water stung her wounds. She could feel the crowd disperse to hide from the weather and mentally sighed again. '_If Division 4 doesn't pick me up soon, I'm going to die here._' She thought.

Beside her there are only two people left, both appearing extremely weak in reitsu.

"We should help her, Kenji-kun…"

"No! She's a shinigami…"

"She didn't hurt us…"

"You'll become the most hated person in all of the Rukongai if you try and help a shinigami, Rena-chan. Now, let's get you inside before you catch a cold from the rain."

There are ruffles of fabric, and Matsumoto could feel their reitsu fade as they walked away. She mentally thanked the unknown girl for her kind heart, but that's wouldn't make much of a difference to her anymore. Now, she waited for her death in the rain and slowly fell unconscious again.

When Matsumoto was somewhat conscious again, she could not move at all. However, she could feel her weight being shifted onto a small and thin, yet steady shoulder. She came back, the girl from earlier, the one that wanted to help her. She was amazed at the young girl's strength as she half dragged and half carried the elder women in the rain for half an hour. Finally, Matsumoto was settled down onto a futon inside a building, and she passed out again.

Reitsu flowed into her body, urging her wounds to heal.

It was so calming, so natural. Like water.

She fell asleep again.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

-night, Seireitei, 10th division office-

Hitsugaya Toushirou, the prodigy captain of the 10th division of the Gotei 13, finished off the last of his lieutenant's paperwork. She didn't come yet from the hollow extermination mission in the outskirts of the 2nd district, it was assigned this morning, and he was worried. It was a lieutenant-level mission, but he received a report that claimed there was a complication. He tried to focus on his lieutenant's reitsu but he could find it. '_It must be the distance._' He hoped.

"TAICHOU!" The door of his office flew open and his third-seated officer stormed in, with panic, fear, and worry written easily across his face.

"What is it?" Captain Hitsugaya asked calmly, completely masking the concerns that plagued him.

"It's Matsumoto Fukutaichou!" The officer said breathlessly. "She requested for backup during her mission and we organized a team, but by the time we got there, all we could find were the dead bodies of the three guys she brought with her and the dead hollows!"

"Where is she?"

"We don't know anything for certain, but some residents said they saw a shinigami whose description matched Matsumoto Fukutaichou in the outskirts of the 2nd district. The said shinigami was unconscious and heavily injured at the time. None of them saw anyone moving her or making an effort to help her but we could not find her at the location they gave us."

Hitsugaya contemplated on the situation for a while. His lieutenant is injured and missing, and his capable division members must have been more or less exhausted since they spent quite a bit of the day searching for her. "Get everyone to rest for tonight. Organize a search in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd district for Matsumoto Fukutaichou first thing tomorrow morning. I'll start in the 2nd district now."

"Hai."

Using flashsteps, Hitsugaya was in the 2nd district in no time at all. He stopped near center of the town and searched for his lieutenant's reitsu, and this time, he felt it.

It was weak, very weak, but it was getting stronger very gradually. What surprised him even more was that there was another powerful spiritual presence next to Matsumoto's. Unlike most of the stronger reitsu one might find in the Rukongai, this one was well controlled. He approached its sources using flashsteps, and found himself outside a shabby cabin in a far back alley. The cabin was attached to a small house and was apparently leased to its occupant.

Hitsugaya approached the window carefully and looked in. He saw a young girl, looking about his age, focusing her reitsu and using them to help to Matsumoto heal. It was a very basic method of healing, and it was not widely used because it uses a lot of reitsu. It was especially unconventional with wounds that are serious, such as those which his lieutenant seem to have sustained, because the reitsu could actually further damage the soul if it was not controlled well.

'_This girl is something special…she is talented (and it seems like she is saving Matsumoto's life). She should be a shinigami; she would make a great addition to the Gotei 13 if she can apply her abilities to combat._' The young captain thought, and with that he stepped into the house.

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	2. Chapter 2

-author's note: I apologize for any spelling and grammar mistakes, and special thanks to the readers who reviewed my last chapter -

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**Part I -- Rising**

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**Chapter 1: The "Water Girl"**

It has been two years since the day Rena saved Matsumoto from bleeding to death in the rain. That night two years ago, Hitsugaya Toushirou invited her to join the Gotei 13 when he realized the potential in the young girl. She was well trained in swordsmanship and controlling her reitsu, and Yamatomo soutaichou permitted Hitsugaya's request to personally train the new recruit. Hitsugaya Taichou is the youngest person to reach captain rank in the Gotei 13, and he made sure his protégée would also someone people in the Seireitei would look up to and admire. Sure enough, Rena didn't disappoint. She mastered shikai almost immediately and bankai in less than a year. She took accelerated kido classes at the academy, while working with Division 10. All of her training ended about half-an-year ago, and ever since she was an active member of the 10th Division. Every once in a while she would still spar with Hitsugaya and he would give her a few pointers, but nowadays both of them were too busy for such activities.

It was common knowledge among the senior officers Gotei 13 and the division members of the 10th Division that the young lady already achieved Bankai, so more than often Rena was sent on lieutenant leveled mission despite the fact she doesn't have a seat in her division. On top of that, she also had administrative responsibilities in the 10th division that would equate to a lieutenant's, since she was the default candidate to fill in for any absent officers, or to fill in for Matsumoto whenever she disappeared.

To Matsumoto Rangiku, Rena was like a little sister she never had but always wanted. Rena was a smart and sweet girl, and was kind to everyone. The two years in the Seireitei wasn't easy for this little girl though: a lot of shinigami distanced themselves from her because of her abilities and connections. Although Rena is on a friendly term with most people who associated with her, she had few close friends. Among them were Matsumoto herself and the other lieutenants, Hitsugaya taichou, and Rukia Kuchiki: another unseated officer of the Gotei 13 whose ability surpassed their ranking.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

-late April-

(two years after Misawa Rena first joining the Gotei 13, it was also the spring preceding the Winter Invasion)

Even a young and pretty girl genius like Misawa Rena had the right to wish that life would be just a little bit better, but that might have been a bit greedy. Her life was pretty good: there are a lot of people who wished that they could be in her situation. Even so, there's still a lot of room for improvement in her life. For starters, she wished that a certain lieutenant would not ran off and leave ALL of the paperwork to her, especially on one of those days when her Captain was on a mission, which means she had to do his stack of work as well.

The morning crept by quietly and quickly. By noon, Rena finished all of the paperwork and sorted them so that they were ready to be distributed or handed in. There's a pile going to the 1st Division, piles going to several other divisions that the 10th were collaborating with, a pile to be filed into the Division's own documents, and there's a bunch to be distributed to the division members. Rena sighed as she stood up. She walked into the hall and called to a few division members to deliver all the papers to where they should be. Another pile of work came in the afternoon, and it would take most of her afternoon to finish it up…

"Misawa?" a familiar voice caught her attention, and she couldn't help but to smile as she lifted her head to see her captain standing at the door.

"Taichou, you are back!" She exclaimed with a joyous smile.

"And you let Matsumoto get away without doing her work again." Hitsugaya Toushiro said with a smug.

"I'm expecting you of all people to be a bit more empathetic, Taichou. After all, no one understands Matsumoto Fukutaichou's work ethics better than you do." She retorted back, her tone filled with playfulness and energy. Being upbeat, playful, and energetic is, well, not like her. Most people would describe her as a calm and serious person, but whenever her captain is around, she couldn't help but feel that she needed to lighten up, like some sort of a balancing agent, so the atmosphere of the area isn't **too** serious.

Hitsugaya just shook his head as he headed to his desk and started to write a report, no doubt on his latest mission. Rena just went back to the paperwork.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

It was cloudy during the morning, and the clouds showed no sign of clearing away. Those would be the signs a regular person would use to determine whether or not it is going to rain, but not for Hitsugaya Toushirou. He looked over to his lieutenants' desk, which is currently occupied by his protégée, and saw a smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

'_Yep, it's going to rain.'_ He thought. Hitsugaya himself is someone who is extremely sensitive to water in the atmosphere, but his protégée, Misawa Rena, seemed to have a set of ultra-sensitive sensors built into her system. She could always tell how much water is there in the air and when it's going to rain, snow, or eve hail. And whenever it rains, she would have this mysterious and pleased smile on her face.

It's only natural that Misawa is extremely sensitive to water, after all, her zanpakutou is water-based. Its name is _Mizu_, water.

The sun, invisible behind the thick clouds, moved west and darkness filled the sky. Misawa stood up, and Hitsugaya watched her as she opened the window that produced the view of the garden outside. Then exactly fifteen seconds after she opened the window, the rain came pouring down.

Somewhere in the distance, the two of them could hear surprised yelps and people running for cover. Misawa smiled again, but this time, it's a mischievous grin.

"So, which one is it this time, did you make the rain fall on your time or did you predict the time of the rainfall?" Hitsugaya asked. _Someone who can control water with their reiatsu…_

"Taichou, even I can't make the sky rain on my command without using releasing some of my reiatsu." Misawa replied with her "playful" tone once again.

"You know perfectly well that even I can't guarantee to detect your reiatsu when you intend to hide it." He replied with his typical annoyed tone.

"I can hide my spiritual pressure when I'm using small amounts of it because I know how much I need and I only release that much spiritual pressure. But being the genius you are, surely you know that it's next to impossible for me determine exactly how much reitsu I need to apply force to a couple million raindrops at the same time."

"Well, you are the one with all the surprises. Have you figured out how your bankai works yet?" He asked, changing to a serious topic. Before he left on his mission, he instructed Misawa to look into the her Bankai a bit more because she's had trouble understanding the nature of her attacks, which limited her attacks strength by a great deal.

"Yep!"

"Care to share?"

"Well, I took a bit of time looking at the Division 12's books, and a bunch of other stuff, and I asked Nemu to explain a lot of it to me. Water is a cluster of compound molecules at liquid state, but the water molecule is made up of hydrogen and oxygen atoms. In Shikai I can control water at a molecular level so I can change the shape and state of any water I touch with my blade and my zanpakutou itself, which turn to ice in Shikai, at a molecular level. One of my Bankai's ability is also to control those things as well, but at an atomic level, or if I want, subatomic level. So, simply speaking, I can create water from the hydrogen and oxygen in the air to aid my attacks, and I can break water down into hydrogen and oxygen if I'm fighting people like you, who needs water to main their attack."

"I see. But about the second function of your Bankai, how are you going to attack anyone if there are no water in the atmosphere? Doesn't your zanpakutou also depend on water as well?"

"Um…I don't know. I guess I can't use that attack unless I can beat my opponent using swordsmanship or kido alone."

Mizu's Shikai alone was a considerable threat. Mizu is released by the command "rain", and then her blade turns into unbreakable ice. It can control any body of water it touches and can be morphed into any shape. Misawa always preferred to stab her opponent and freeze their blood. But how dominant the control is depends how much reiatsu was put into the attack, and the attack can be delayed, weakened, or even cancelled, depending on the reiatsu acting against her attack.

However, in Bankai, things get really complex and messy. First, there are these butterfly wings made of water growing out of her back. Misawa figured out a way to hide the wings and she is still trying to figure out how to use them. Mizu told her it was for flying, but Misawa didn't dare to try it yet. Another function of her Bankai was to control water, which she just explained to him. In both Shikai and Bankai Mizu is able to locate water molecules in the atmosphere, concentrate the particles, and morph them into thousands of small blades of ice. Attacks with those blades are controlled and maintained by her reiatsu, and the effects are similar to that of Senbonzakura's and Haineko.

Speaking of Haineko…

"By the way," Hitsugaya began again, "Do you know where Matsumoto is?"

"Don't ask me, I haven't seen her all da—"

"Hitsugaya Taichou!" The voice of a messenger called out from the other side of the door.

Misawa walked across the room to open the door. A messenger from the 1st Division, all drenched in rain, kneeled in the hall.

"What is it?" Hitsugaya asked urgently; it's never good news when people use that tone.

"There is a disturbance that requires your immediate attention." The messenger responded, his head still bowing down while extending his hands to deliver a document.

Misawa, who was standing near the door, accepted the document. The messenger bowed and left.

Hitsugaya took the document and read it through. A frown appeared as he approached the end of the document.

"Taichou?" Misawa asked, out of both curiousity and concern.

"There is a disturbance near the 2nd District. It's a Lieutenant or Captain-leveled mission." He replied briskly.

"Mmh…Can I go?" Misawa asked hopefull. She just figured out how her bankai worked the day before yesterday and she still didn't get a chance to try it out.

"What? No! The last time I sent someone else onto a 'Lieutenant or Captain-leveled mission', the only way she escaped bleeding to death in middle of the Rukon District because you picked her up."

"But you just got back from a long mission; you need your rest. Also, I need to practice my Bankai."

Hitsugaya hesitated. Misawa made a good point. He was still not back at one hundred percent after the last mission, and she needed her practice. Misawa would probably be able to handle a mission at this level, but he didn't want to take chances. _Not with Misawa_.

She must have read his concerns, so she added, "Okay, let's do it this way. It's about 7:00 pm right now, and if I'm not back by midnight, you can send Matsumoto Fukutaichou or someone else to come and get me. But if you ask me, I don't think that's necessary. And you really do need some rest."

"Fine. Make sure you come back in one piece."

"_Hai_!"

--

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	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2: Sora no Mizu – Water of the Sky**

The rain stroke Misawa Rena's skin as she flashstepped through the Seireitei and into the Rukon District.

The 2nd Rukon District was the same as ever: dusty, dirty, but still better most of the other districts. Rena jumped on to the roofs to avoid flashstep into some innocent person running for cover in the rain. It was past working hours on a raining day, but the streets still filled with people and activity.

It's been 2 years since the last time she was here, since the last time she had a conversation with someone from this district…

"_WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Kenji yelled. Rena swallowed hard and faced him. She would have to tell him at some point, so it might as well as be now._

"_I'm joining the Shinigami." She repeated._

"_Why would you do that?"_

"_I…I want to help! I want to help protect Soul Society, and everyone in it! And I can if I join them; they'll teach me how!" That answer was only partially true. She didn't tell Kenji that she planned on joining the academy eventually because a certain dragon inside her head pestered her to do so. _

"_How did you get that ridiculous idea in your head?" Kenji asked incredulously. _

"_One of them told me...I took the injured shinigami we saw yesterday back to my place and later that night, her captain came to pick her up and told me that I should join them…"_

"_Why did you help her? She didn't deserve that!"_

"_She was fighting a monster! She sustained those injuries trying to protect us!"_

…

They never reached an agreement.

Rena left the next day. Hitsugaya came and picked her up, and she never saw Kenji again after that day…she never even stepped into the 2nd Rukon District again. In fact, if she didn't come here just now, she probably would have forgotten that she used to live here, and what it felt like. All those memories of dust and dirt, of hunger and cold, felt like a lifetime away. Now, in this new life, she have different duties and concerns.

Being out in the outskirts of the 2nd district on a rainy day was like deja vu. It was raining the day she met Matsumoto. Rena stopped near the edge of the woods as she felt as an abnormally strong reitsu. '_If taichou release his release his reitsu at the this level, everything in a one kilometer radius would be frozen solid!'_ She moved her right hand over the hilt of her zanpakutou and moved toward the hollow.

She was getting closer, and closer, and finally, she was able to see it. It wasn't a menos grande, in fact, it didn't seem too different from any other hollows she've encountered. If not for the fact the hollow was emitting immense amounts of spiritual pressure, she would have thought this was an ordinary hollow.

The hollow looked like a scorpion with an human's torso and spider's arms. It turned around, and noticed her. Rena pulled out her zanpakutou and held it in front of her in a defensive position. She was only about 20 meters away from the hollow, but she couldn't see it very well because it was dark, rainy, and there were trees in between them. The hollow left out a roar and charged at Rena. She dodged it easily by jumping very high into the air.

"Rain, Mizu!" Rena released the shikai of her zanpakutou. She changed to shape of her blade into a longer, double-sided sword of "unbreakable ice," and was expecting a difficult battle. However, the hollow didn't even look up when the blade sliced through its very being from the top. It looked like it wasn't fast enought. '_This is strange,'_ Rena thought, _'I hit that thing at less than 50 percent of my Shikai and it's already dead. This can't be a lieutenant or captain-leveled mission.'_

The sudden drop of spiritual pressure from her surrounding left Rena feeling a little dizzy – too dizzy to prepare herself when another strong spiritual presence appeared somewhere about 2 kilometers from where she was. The sudden appearance of the reiatsu knocked the young lady off her feet. '_Is this the real disturbance the report was talking about?'_ She thought to herself, while getting on her feet again.

She flashstepped to where the reiatsu was emitted from, and when she arrived, she suddenly realized that there were two spiritual presences there. One was another hollow just like the previous one, the other was a teenager boy about her age who was meters away from the hollow and looked as if he was too shocked to even take a breathe. The teen boy had a strong reiatsu, but he obviously didn't know how to control it. No wonder the hollow was interested in the boy. As of that moment, he was emitting so much reiatsu due to fear that Rena found it hard to move.

The hollow moved even closer to the boy. Rena, with her zanpakutous still released, charged forward. This hollow, however, was remarkably faster than the last one. It bounced back about 10 meters and turned to face Rena, poised and ready to attack.

"My, my! A little shinigami who will soon meet her miserable end." The hollow said mockingly with its coarse voice. "I can tell that you were the one who got rid of my incompetent brother just now. But I assure you I'm nothing like that defective fool and you get won't rid of me too easily. You are not even a lieutenant."

Rena didn't bother responding him. The hollow's reiatsu was about the same as the last one's, but it was more intelligent than the other one. _'God, this voice remainds so much of Ichimaru Taichou!...__Hold on a minute, did he just call the other hollow "defective"? What could he mean? It sounds as if someone created them--'_

The hollow launched itself at Rena, and she held her blade up to block the attacks from the eight 'spider' arms. Soon she saw her disadvantage: the hollow is using eight weapons at the same time and she could only defend herself with one.

"Beg for mercy, shinigami, and I'll let you die a little faster. You won't stand a chance against my 8 arms with that one blade, and let me remind you that my tail is also a perfectly capable and deadly weapon." The Hollow said with the same sarcastic tone.

Rena took a giant leap back. '_Should I try and repel him using Shikai first, or do I use Bankai now? Any suggestions, Mizu?' _She asked her zanpakutou.

'_Use Bankai. You may be able to repel him using Shikai, but we don't know that for certain. Besides, you came all the way out here to practice Bankai, and remember you are on a clock, you don't have unlimited time to fight him with your Shikai." The dragon responded. _

'_If you say so…Ready? 1, 2, 3 --'_

"Sora no Mizu." The release commanded was uttered, but there were no significant changes to neither the shinigami nor her blade. Rena hide her wings and used only her right hand to hold her zanpakutou. She drew a circle with it in the air in front of her. In her mind's eye, she could she the circle. '_Expand it, use your reiatsu and mind to move this circle around the hollow.' _Mizu instructed, and Rena complied.

The hollow was completely ignorant of this barrier placed around him. All he knew was that the shinigami said something and drew a circle with her blade. He suspected it was Kido, but he didn't hear an incantation.

'_Everything single water particle within that circle is under your control. Every single drop of blood in that hollow's system, every single last water molecule in him is under your control.' Mizu explained. _

'_Cool, so I don't even have to touch the water with my blade like I had to do in Shikai?'_

'_That's correct. This is one of the advantages of your Bankai.'_

'_Okay, what do I do with him? I think he's moving again.'_

'_Your barrier will move with him. Just follow my instructions.'_

Rena agreed with her zanpakutou, but soon regretted that. Mizu had always been a bit sadistic. She instructed Rena to decompose (chemically breakdown) the water molecules in the hollow's body. Zanpakutous tend to reflect their owners personality, but they also display aspects of the shinigamis' personality that were suppressed. For example, Hyourinmaru has a great sense of humour as opposed to Hitsugaya, who was the poster-boy of seriousness; and Mizu is a wise-craking sadist, contrasting with Rena, who is a polite and kind. Therefore, the hollow suffered a rather painful and slow death. If Rena had things her way, she would have probably just frozen the monster solid, but Mizu is, well, not very humanitarian.

'_This is the last time I follow your method of execution in battle." _Rena declared to her zanpakutou spirit after the battle. The only response she received was a proud laugh.

She turned around and saw the teenager from earlier; he was still frozen with shock as he was earlier. _'I doubt watching a hollow's body literally fall apart right in front of him made him feel any better, no thanks to you, Mizu.'_

Rena approached the boy and put a hand on his shoulder. "Everything's all right. _It_ is gone; it won't bother you ever again." She said softly.

The boy turned to look at her. He blinked a few times, and started to breath deeply and rapidly. His reiatsu started to fluctuate violently.

"Calm down. It's all right!" Rena reassured him again, but saw no improvement. She signed and tried another approach. "Let's talk about something else. I'm Rena, Misawa Rena. I'm a shinigami. What's your name?"

"Uh…Takeo. Nakamoto Takeo." He responded slowly.

"Okay, Nakamoto-kun, where do you live?"

"2nd District."

"Why don't you show me? I'll walk you back; nothing can hurt you while I'm around." She said softly with a smile. Nakamoto Takeo just nodded numbly, and started walking toward home, with Rena right beside him in the rain.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

-11:45 pm, 10th Division Office, Seireitei-

"Taichou!" Matsumoto's sing-song voice broke the silence. "You are back! What are you still doing here so late?"

Hitsugaya glared at her and said. "I'm still here finishing up _your _work because a certain lieutenant was not competent enough to look after the Division's affairs when I'm not around."

"But Rey-chan took care of everything so nicely!" Matsumoto whined. She expected the little girl to give an objective cough, but heard none, and soon noticed that she was absent. "Where did she go?"

"There's a disturbance in the 2nd District, I sent her out to investigate." Hitsugaya replied with his usual cold and dismissive tone. But of course, Matsumoto wasn't ready to be dismissed.

"You sent Rena-chan out alone? That's a first. You never let her go on any mission without you or me."

"She is practicing with her Bankai. She prefers to be alone."

"What level was it?" Matsumoto inquired.

"Lieutenant or captain leveled."

"Wow, taichou, did you hit your head when you were out on your mission? You don't even let me go on those missions alone, and you hardly let Rey-chan go on any missions without you."

"She said she'd be back by midnight."

"That's 6 minutes from now—"

"I'm back!" Misawa Rena's yelled as she pushed through the door. "Did I make it back in time?" She asked as she panted. Her face was scarlet from the running (and flashstepping) and rainwater dripped from her hair.

There was a moment of silence caused by Rena's suddenly entrance. Then Hitsugaya spoke up.

"How was the mission?" He asked.

"Um, it was a bit weird." Rena began, "There were two hollows that looked the same and had about the same level of reitsu, but one of them was faster and more intelligent than the other one."

"That's weird. Did you get both of them?" Matsumoto asked, suddenly serious.

"Of course I did. Oh, one of them called the other one his 'defective brother', I'm not sure if it means anything, but sounds like to me as if they are manufactured or created by someone." Rena mentioned. For unknown reasons, that expression bothered her a lot.

"It's probably just a figure of speech." Hitsugaya said. Both Rena and Matsumoto nodded. That was the most logical explanation. "How was you Bankai?"

"It was okay…it's pretty powerful; Mizu got rid of the those guys in no time."

"Then how come it took you so long to get back. Don't tell me you are stupid enough to get lost." Hitsugaya questioned.

"Oh! I walked this guy home. He looked about my age, and the hollow was going to eat him. Back there he was too shocked to even move, I couldn't just leave him there!" Rena explained.

"Okay, I see." Hitsugaya said finally, "Let's call it a night. Misawa, work on the report first thing tomorrow. Matsumoto, you are getting an extra stack of paperwork for every minute that you are late to work tomorrow morning."

There was a collective sigh from the two females, then they both bowed and left the office.

--

Hope you guys enjoyed it!

Review please :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3: Prelude to Disaster**

"Rena, I'm only going to be gone for one month, stop making such a big fuss out of everything." Kuchiki Rukia told her friend as they took a stroll in a garden in the 13th Division grounds.

"I know, but if you are not here, then who am I going to talk to?" Misawa Rena asked rhetorically. Rukia was her best friend in the Gotei 13. She just received a mission to patrol a section in the human world for one month and she was to leave that afternoon.

"If it's entertainment you want, I'm sure Matsumoto Fukutaichou can think of plenty of options for you." Rukia said.

"But who is going to tutor me in Kido if you are gone?" Rena whined.

"I never tutored you in Kido and you don't need tutoring! You took classes from the academy; Hinamori Fukutaichou was the one that gave you all those extra tips."

"You helped me once…" Rena kept on whining playfully.

"Stop whining. How come you never whine like this when you are with Hitsugaya Taichou?" Rukia observed.

"If I want to get turned into an ice sculpture, I'll do just that."

Rukai sighed. Her friend was a calm and collected person in most occasions, but with her close friends, Rena Misawa had a different personality. Rukia became friends with Rena because they were both unseated officers although they were powerful enougth to earn a position, but they have different reasons. Rukia didn't have a seat because her brother managed to keep her off the list of candiadates for a seated position. Rena didnt' have seat because she wanted to stay with Division 10 but the her division didn't have any vacancies in seated positions.

"Have you told Kuchiki Taichou that you are leaving yet?" Rena asked. Rukia was relieved that her friend finally started using her regular 'calm and serious' voice, but this was not her favorite topic.

"No. He probably would tell me not to bother him with such petty matters if I do tell him. Besides, Ukitake Taichou said he would tell my brother for me."

"How about Abarai-kun, have you told him yet?"

"No, there's no time. I'm leaving in less than an hour—"

"Wait, it's past two o'clock already?"

"Yeah, it's 15 minutes to two when we left…"

"Oh my god! Taichou is going to kill me! I told him that I'd report in at two…Well, take care, Rukia. Be safe and have fun!" The shinigami prodigy hugged her friend, waved goodbye, and left in a hurry.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

-Rena Misawa:

_**The next time I saw Rukia, she was held captive in the 6**__**th**__** Division Detention Cell, waiting to be executed. Her crime: she gave her shinigami powers to a human. But that was only the beginning of troubles for Soul Society, because then it was chaos.**_

_**Soon, the people we thought was could trust turned against us; the people whom we thought were our enemies came to protect us. Those we held close to our hearts abandoned us, and people we never met before came to fill their place. **_

_**But it's not same; it's never going to be the same again. **_

_**Wounds may heal, but scars never go away. **_

_**The deepest and ugliest scar on me was the departure of my captain. **_

_**Funny how everything began with the departures…**_

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**END: PART I**

--

author's note:

This is the end of Part I! Part II will forward to 20 years in the future! :P hope you guys enjoyed it

special thanks to my readers and reviewers

since this chapter is so short, I'll add the next Chapter very soon, but from this point on I can't make regular weekly updates anymore, so the chapters will come much slower, sorry about that


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note: this is a new part, set 20 years after where I left off. There is a lot of new stuff in this Chapter, and this Chapter is mainly conversations, just to set the mood / establish the setting. Most of the major changes will be explained in the next chapter.

and as always, please forgive me for spelling/grammar mistakes...

**--**

**Part II: Betrayal**

**--**

Chapter 1: Restart

"_You can't do this, Taichou!"_

"_Let me go, Misawa."_

"_NO! Taichou, don't…TOUSHIROU!"_

"_I have to do this"_

"_It won't change anything, you can't bring her back!"_

"_I __**HAVE TO**__ avenge her."_

"_You'll lose __**everything**__ if you leave like this!"_

"_She __**WAS**__ my everything!"_

"_But…but you are…you are…my everything…."_

_Neither of the two figures moved for a while. Only the rain kept on falling. _

"_I'm sorry, Misawa....Sit upon the frosted heavens, Hyourinmaru!"_

_There was blood. One of the two figures fell to the ground, the other somehow opened up a Senkai Gate, and stepped through. _

_The rain kept on falling. _

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

20 years ago, 4 of Soul Society's captains left. 3 of them were declared traitors, one of them was denounced after he abandoned his duties and deserted. The traitors left during the summerand attempted an invasion during that winter, but they were stopped. However, they were never defeated; they were just recuperation and getting ready to strike again. During that "Winter Invasion", the forth captain abandoned his post due to personal reasons and was therefore denounced.

In less than a year, Soul Society lost 4 of its captains. 20 years later, the last of the open captain positions was going to be filled…

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Takeo, you are going to be just fine! You've been to captain's meetings before; none of them bites!" Misawa Rena reassured her former lieutenant as she waited with outside the 1st division's meeting hall. Today, he will be officially promoted to captain rank. However, it wasn't just a promotion to any regular division…

"It's to the 10th Division! That division hasn't had a taichou in 20 years, not since the last one left!" Takeo protested frantically. He was very nervous.

"Matsumoto Fukutaichou had made sure that the 10th division was always in perfect working order the last 20 years, and I had been overseeing their welfare myself. The division isn't nearly as insane as you would expect of a place that's been without a leader for 20 years." Rena explained, trying to calm Takeo down.

"That's not what I mean. You know what I mean. The division, their last captain, Soul Society's attitude…"

"Don't let those things get to you. Their last captain had been gone long enough, and the division was never in anyway related to his desertion. Soul Society is expecting you to give them a boost and restore their former glory. Just go in there and get introduced as a captain." With that, Rena went ahead and walked into the meeting room, leaving Takeo waiting outside alone until he would be called.

Yamamoto Soutaichou wasn't in the meeting room yet, and there was full of whispers and hushed discussions along the two lines of captains. The noises died down dramatically as Rena entered, creating an awkward silence.

Rena just bowed her head slightly to address everyone and took up an empty spot in one of the two lines. Kurosaki Ichigo, and Abarai Renji, captains of divisions 9 and 3 respectively, came over to her. In captain's meetings, theses three youngsters were almost always together, most because they are about they same age, but also because they were all promoted to their positions after the Winter Invasion. Rena actually took up the administrative duties of the 5th Division captain almost immediately after Aizen's betrayal, because former-lieutenant Hinamori wasn't able to look after the Division as Kira Izuru or Hisagi Shuhei did for theirs. However, she wasn't officially promoted until after the war, along with Renji and Ichigo.

"So, you gonna be alright?" Ichigo asked. Renji looked at her in the way that mirrored Ichigo's question. Everyone knew it was hard for Rena Misawa, and Matsumoto Rangiku as well, to accept Hitsugaya Toushirou's desertion. It would be hard seeing him replaced, and in Rena's case, she had to support Nakamoto Takeo's promotion because she thought of herself as his captain and friend and should therefore support him. Rena herself was a member of 10th Division before, not to mention she was Hitsugaya's protégée. Deep inside, Rena knew that she was connected to Hitsugaya in a deeper bound than that of an average teacher-student relationship. A bound so deep that it hurts when you pull on it too hard…

"Of course I'm alright! Why wouldn't I be? My lieutenant is getting promoted to a captain!" Rena said. Her joy was genuine, but she sounded exhausted.

"Uh…So now you have to do all of the division's work by yourself again?" Renji tried to cheer his friend up by taking on a less sensitive topic. He and Ichigo were trying to comfort Rena if she wasn't going to be happy about the turn of things, but both of them knew better than to stay on the topic if Rena didn't want to talk.

The trio drifted into an awkward silence, saved only by Yamamoto's entrance. The old man wasted no time calling the captains to order and asked for Takeo's entrance.

Takeo walked through the door with his usual ease, grace, and confidence. Not a trace of his fears and nervousness is visible. He walked about halfway between the captains standing farthest from Yamamoto and the Soutaichou himself. He bowed in respect, and stood up straight, ready to listen to the "speech."

"Nakamoto Takeo, are committed to assume the responsibilities of as a captain as the taichou of the 10th Division?"

"Yes, sir! I will perform my duties to the best of my abilities and will always put the proprieties of Soul Society and my division before my own!" He recited: the speech was memorized and practiced so many times.

"You have an excellent track record. I understand that you've graduated from the academy in only 3 years and had been in the Gotei 13 for 15 years. The last 7 years you've worked as a lieutenant in the 5th Division, and all of your colleagues and superiors spoke very well of you, especially Misawa Taichou. I expect you to show the same type of dedication and performance in your new position."

"Yes, Sir!"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

About 6'o clock that evening, Rena popped into Division 10's Office to visit their new captain. She felt a bit weird, since the last she came here to visit a captain was 20 years ago, and the captain back then was _him_. As much as she hated to admit it, she was still hurt about his departure…

"How was your first day, Takeo?" Rena asked in a cheerful voice as she opened the door to Nakamoto Takeo's new office, _his_ old office, and let herself in.

"You know, Misawa Taichou, since I assumed the position of the Division's Captain, you are no longer in charge here. The least you could to do to be polite is to knock before coming in." Takeo said sarcastically. He had always been on an extremely friendly term with his now former captain, but he respected her tremendously. The last thing he would dare to do is to keep Misawa Rena out of the door when she thinks she can go inside.

"My apologies, Nakamoto Taichou. May I please come in?" Rena replied in an equally sarcastic voice.

"Most certainly, Misawa Taichou."

"Just a piece of advice if you are going to stay in this office though: always be ready and presentable, because you'll never know when Matsumoto Fukutaichou is going to actually come in here unannounced and do some work. Anyways, how's the first day?"

"It was okay, I guess. Everyone here is very nice and hardworking. This division is also very organized, much to my surprise. I guess you are right, this Division is doing very good despite the fact they haven't had an official captain of their own in 20 years." Takeo remarked.

"'Official captain of their own'? That's an interesting choice of words."

"Taichou, I know you were the one running around managing most of their affairs the last 20 years. After all, I was your lieutenant. Besides, Matsumoto Fukutaichou told me that the division members think very highly of you; they see you as their captain most of the time."

"I guess that's because I've been here so long…How do you think of Matsumoto Fukutaichou? She is very nice and helpful, isn't she?"

"Well, I know she is one of the most experiened lieutenants, but in the last 7 years working as her colleague, I can't say that I approve of her working antics now that I'm her captain."

"Rangiku-san is what we call 'moral-support', she may not do much administrative work, but she'll make your day if you feel upset or stressed." Rena explained.

"Really? She looked positively depressed today. I mean, she tried to smile and be nice and everything, but her smile is just _sad. _It seemed like she was remembering something painful."

"Oh. I see. Well, I guess I'll go visit her, then. To see what's bothering her and if I can cheer her up." Rena decided. She had a good. haunch as to why Rangiku-san would be upset today.

"Okay, you go do that. Hey, do you want to have dinner together tomorrow?" Takeo asked hopefully.

"Sure. See you tomorrow, then."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Rangiku-san?" A voice from the door asked softly.

"Come in." Matsumoto replied, not even bothering to move from her seat next to the window sill. She wasn't in the best mood, not today. Today, her division welcomed a new captain, another new captain. She didn't know why it felt so horrible, she didn't feel anything in particular when Hitsugaya first came along, but now, she just couldn't help but to feel a bit bitter about Nakamoto's coming. Sure, she performed her part as a supportive lieutenant today, but she didn't extend an offer to friendship as she did for Hitsugaya.

"How was your day?" Misawa Rena's soft voice asked as she settled down next to Matsumoto on the mat.

"It was okay. I spent most of the day showing Nakamoto around the Division."

"How was it?"

"It's okay…It's kind of like the one I gave to Hitsu-" Matsumoto stopped dead in middle of her sentence. She couldn't believe that she brought the topic back to _him_ again, and in front of Misawa, too…

"Are you okay?" Misawa asked, but the answer to the question was fairly obivious.

"Yeah." Matsumoto said half-heartedly. "Why are you here?"

"I'm here to give you a chance to shout at me." Misawa said with a calm and steady tone.

This time, it got Matsumoto to give her weird look. "Why would I shout at you?"

"I know you don't want to see _his_ position filled by someone else, and to be honest, I don't want to either. I'm sorry that I supported Takeo's promotion, but I had to. He is my friend and he is a capable officer; he deserves this position." Misawa said still quietly. "I'm sorry if my decision caused you any pain, but I think it's about time we moved on."

"I'm not mad at you. You did what you had to do. But I do have two, no, three questions to ask you. Can you promise me that you'll give me an honest answer?"

"Sure. Anything."

"First of all, were you in love with Hitsugaya Taichou?"

The question took Rena totally by surprise. That's what people had been assuming for the past 20 years, but no one dared to ask her straight to the face.

"Yes." She answered after a moment of deliberation.

"Secondly, are you still in love with him?"

"Part of me still am, and I think that part of me will never stop loving him." She admitted silently. For the first time in 20 years, Misawa Rena's calm and even voice broke a bit.

"Do you love Nakamoto now?" That was Matsmoto's third question.

"No. He is a friend, a very good friend, and I can't think of feeling any other way for him."

"I see." Matsumoto paused for a bit. "Well, you were right earlier. It's about time we moved on." The two women gave each other an embrace. They thought that they made it through. They thought that any of their heartaches involving _him_ was over….

They were not even close.

--

A/N:

this is the beginning of part 2! big change in the setting, and entrance of another OC !

there is a lot conversations and changes in this chapter, I hope it's not that confusing.

From now on I won't be able to update as regularly anymore :( sorry :( if you have any suggestions to the story, you are more than welcome to tell me (I'm not sure how to use most of the communication functions, so you can just leave some suggestions in the review!)

so, review please, any feedback is welcome :)

hope you enjoyed the story


	6. Chapter 6

Excuse all grammar and spelling errors please *anime sweatdrop*

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2: Thoughts

Time is supposed to heal all wounds. But when you need the healing magic the most, time decides to stand still. It seems like all the cherished memories fade away all too quickly, and the moments that you most long to forget never go away. They would come back, and hunt you in your sleep, replay themselves in your nightmares...

Misawa Rena sat still on her window sill, looking into the black night and pouring rain. The falling rain bring back so much memories, most of which she didn't want to remember. She still wasn't sure why she was so depressed the last twenty years, why she ended up the way she was today. Why? Which of the decision she made led her to feel this way today? If she could reverse one of those decisions, how much would have changed? She struggled to remember when all this started…

It's hard to name a single event that marks the beginning of the situation she was in right now. If she wanted, Rena could have traced these events back to the beginning of time when hollows were created, but that's really pointless. Aizen's plotting started more than a century ago, but to Rena, everything started when Rukia left on the fateful mission to Karakura town. It was supposed to be a one-month mission, but Rukia didn't come back when one month passed. She did, however, come back two month later, captured by the orders of Soul Society. She was sentenced to death on the charges of surrendering her shinigami powers to a human. Back then, Rena was too absorbed in her personal rage to realize the peculiarities tied to Rukia's execution. However, Rukia was rescued by Kurosaki Ichigo, the human to whom she gave her powers to. In the end everyone found out that Aizen, and his accomplices Ichimaru Gin and Tosen Kaname engineered the plot to kill Rukia to retrieve the Hokyouko from within her, but that was after he managed to stir up an entire mayhem that put Hinamori Momo in a coma, half of Soul Society in Division 4 for a while, and left three divisions without captains.

Kira Izuru and Hisagi Shuuhei, lieutenants of Division 3 and 9 respectively, took up managing their division, but the 5th Division was left without a captain nor a lieutenant after Hinamori went into a coma. Hitsugaya took up Division 5's administrative affairs, but he was soon sent to a mission in the human world. As of that time, Rena took up temporary administrative duties as a captain of Division 5. It wasn't the easiest task in the world: everyone resented three former captains who turned traitors, and they alienated their divisions, too, especially 5th, because Aizen was the mastermind behind the plot. Rena tried everything she could possibly think of to redeem the Division and to boost the sprits of the Division members, but it was a slow and tedious process to regain people's trust after it was lost, and then things changed for the worse.

When Hinamori first woke up from her coma, Rena was overjoyed to have an old friend back and to have someone to help her with the Division, but Hinamori saw things in a complete different way. She naively yet firmly believed that Aizen was good and that the rest of Soul Society wronged him. Of course, no one was surprised when the regular members of Divisions 3, 5, and 9, and Hinamori, were left behind during the battles of the Winter Invasion, and Rena stayed behind with them. During that time, somehow Hinamori got the notion that she needed to go talk to Aizen, and went ahead into the human world to meet to meet him. Rena tried to stop her, but she didn't dare to raise her sword to Hinamori; Hinamori knocked Rena out with Kido and left.

The rest, Rena only knew what she heard. Aizen killed Hinamori brutally in front of all of the taichous, which included Hitsugaya, in one of the battles. The other captains subdued the three traitors and they went into hiding deep in Heuco Mundo.

After everyone came back to Soul Society, Hitsugaya requested permission to go into Hueco Mundo to hunt down Aizen, but Yamamoto denied that request, the excuse being "let the dragon sleep, we are in no shape to fight them so soon." But that will never stop him.

It was a gray and rainy day when it finally happened. Rena remembers it down to the last detail. The rest of Soul Society was still running around mad and unorganized, as they did for the entire month, trying to regroup and care for the injured. In the mess, Rena picked out Hitsugaya raising his reiatsu. She raced across the Seireitei to find him standing in an empty Court Yard…

"Taichou, what are you doing here?" Rena asked as she came to a stop.

"It takes two different captain's special orders to open a Senkai Gate without the Soutaichou's prior authorization." Without even turning around to face her, he said flatly in a whisper barely audible over the splatter of the rain.

Rena was taken back by the statement. "Yeah. Um, that was random…" and then it hit her. "Wait, you are not thinking about…"

"I have to."

"Toushirou, the Soutaichou is never going to forgive you for this! He already told you that he would not allow you to go into Heuco Mundo to find Aizen. Besides, there are still several dozen Arrancars, Menos, and other Hollows in Heuco Mundo; you may never make it back!"

"So?"

"Then why are you doing this?

He let out a cold laugh. "Misawa, I expected you of all people to understand. After all, you were the one that kept on telling me that I should listen to my heart more than I listen to orders." He paused for a while, and looked straight into her eyes. "My heart is with Hinamori. I will avenge her." Then he unsheathed Hyrouinmaru.

"Taichou! You can't do this!" Rena pleaded. She lost everyone bit of composure she had left and her frantic heart guided her actions. She back away from him. _'I can't help you, Toushirou. Not this time. I've always wanted to support you no matter what you do, but if I help you with this, you'll destroy yourself.'_

"Let me go, Misawa." To someone who didn't understand, it would seem rather funny to tell someone who is backing away from you to let you go, but there is a reason for that.

(Author's note: this part is a rule I made up!) There are many ways for a Captain to give out special orders in times of emergency; one of the most authoritarian methods is to draw the unique symbol for the order out the captain's own blood. Despite the fact Soul Society seems to have a strict hierarchy and a tight network of rules and regulations, there are many loopholes: some are unintentional leaks, and others are left purposely to give its higher members more flexibility in times of emergency. Hitsugaya Toushirou was going to take advantage of the second kind of loophole: with blood seals from two captains, himself and Misawa, he could open the Senkai Gate without Yamamoto's say-so. He made a small cut on his own arm.

"NO! Taichou, don't…TOUSHIROU!" Rena called desperately but helpless as she watched Hitsugaya drawing out the symbol for a Senkai Gate using his own blood on the ground. Already, it's flashing blue and is waiting for its partner so it can be activated.

"I have to do this" He said flatly, then he stood up and started walking toward Rena.

"It won't change anything, you can't bring her back!" She said, tears streamed down her cheek, but she didn't move back anymore. _'If this is really what you want, then I guess I have to help you, but I really wish this is not the case.'_

"I **HAVE TO** avenge her."

"You'll lose **everything** if you leave like this!"_ 'And you might get yourself killed while you are there.'_

"She **WAS** my everything!"

Rena felt her heart stop beating for a moment. When it resumed beating again, she realized something about herself that she didn't discover until then, until it was too late. "But…but you are…you are…my everything…." _'Because I love you.'_

Neither of the two figures moved for a while. Only the rain kept on falling.

Hitsugaya's expression was undecipherable, then he summoned his zanpakutou. "I'm sorry, Misawa. Sit upon the frosted heavens, Hyourinmaru!"

…

That was the last thing Rena remembered; she lost consciousness immediately after he inflicted a serious blow on her. Two days later, she woke up in Division 4. By then the word went around: Hitsugaya Toushirou betrayed Soul Society.

Later, Rena found out that there were surveillance systems in the courtyard where she and Hitsugaya had their last encounter. From those silent footages, it seemed as if she tried to stop him, but he overpowered her by force; he injured her so badly so she wouldn't suffer any consequences if she stayed in Soul Society, so she wouldn't be blamed for being his accomplice. She became a victim and a hero, met with sympathy and pity wherever she went.

A month later, Rena was instated as the official captain of Division 5, and Ichigo and Renji became captains of Divisions 3 and 9 respectively. Eventually, things turned for the better. Over the next several years the Divisions regained the trust of the rest of Gotei 13, and people finally seemed to have forgotten Hitsugaya's desertion. Rena, and Captain Ukitake of Division 13 helped looking after the 10th Division, but the members of that Division, and people who were close to Hitsugaya, could never forget or truly understand his course of action. Rena and Matsumoto Rangiku were the only ones who knew what truly happened. Although Rena never told Rangiku, the woman knew both Rena and Hitsugaya too well. She foresaw Rena's feelings before the young shinigami expected it herself, and she was the one Rena turned to when she needed to figure everything out. After that, they never brought his name up in conversation until Nakamoto Takeo became captain.

For the two of them, the past could only be buried and hidden in the back of their minds, but never forgotten. And part of both of them never wanted to.

It's been twenty years since he left, and despite everything, both Rena and Rangiku decided that it is time to move on.

However, fate is not on their side...not in this case...

-------------------------------

Author's note:

Sorry it takes so long to update (...life of a student...), I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!

Once again, review please! any feedback is welcome. I am very open-minded, by the way. So, if you have any suggestions/comments/criticisms, you are more than welcome to let me know!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 3: Unexpected

In a quiet and elegant restaurant in the Seireitei, Nakamoto Takeo and Rena Misawa sat across from each other, enjoying the food and each other's company.

"You really worked magic on Matsumoto Fukutaichou when you visited her. Today she was all happy and peppy, unlike the gloomy ghoul she was yesterday." Takeo remarked as they finished their meal.

"Sometimes, all you need to do is to come to terms with your true feelings and you will feel better. You can do that by talking to people, that's why I went to see her. She needed to think some stuff through."

"Well, I'm just glad that she is happy. Although she's not doing much work, at least she was more like her usual self."

Rena smiled. Matsumoto Rangiku fooling around not doing any work, that's a sign that things just might go back to normal. "Is the work load catching up to you yet? I have to warn you, Division 10 gets a substantial amount of paperwork. The other captains must be glad that you came along, because most it was split among the other Division the last 20 years."

"It's okay. I just realized today when I was doing all the work by myself: you have a huge workload now, don't you, since you don't have a lieutenant to split your work. A captain's workload is terrible! How do you survive it alone?"

"Takeo, I've handled both the 10th and the 5th Divisions workloads at the same time before, I'll manage without a lieutenant. Besides, I have 15 seated officers…" A mischievous smile appeared on Rena's face.

Takeo chuckled. His former captain was generally thought to be a calm and serious person, but he was one of the few people that got to see the more "fun" side of her personality. She would never show that side of her personality at work, but she would loosen up when she was with her friends, "Well, now I feel sorry for the gang. Are you promoting the third seat to lieutenant, then?"

"Maybe. I'll have to put in an application to the 1st Division if I want to fill a lieutenant-leveled position. They might send someone from the other squads over to me." The young captain explained, her face frowning a bit at the thought of writing another report.

"I see. Who do you think they'll choose?" Takeo asked.

"I honestly have no idea. Personally, I hope it's a senior officer. I don't have anything against prodigies straight from the academy, such as yourself; they are generally stronger and more capable fighters, but they are unfamiliar with the procedure and the administrative process…"

The two young people kept on talking, and their topic strayed away from work to leisure. However, although this night was just a relaxing outing with a friend to Rena, Nakamoto Takeo had something else planned in mind

"I like this." Takeo said after a while. He was ready to make his point.

"What do you mean?" Rena asked: she had no idea as to what was the context of his statement

"I like this. I like just the two of us spending time together, enjoying each other's company, and not having to worry about anything. We are just being ourselves; we are completely honest with each other and ourselves."

"Um, I like this, too, I guess. It's a nice break from all the work…" Rena was still confused "…it's nice to have friends to talk to…"

Takeo tried to analyze Rena's every action and word, and pressed for more information. He _needed_ to know…"Is that how you see me, just a friend?" he asked.

"Um, well, you are a very good friend, one of my closest. I know you are someone I can always count on and trust." She elaborated her answer, but still clueless about why their conversation had taken such an awkward turn.

"I never saw you as just a friend; ever since the first time I met you, you became to person that I admire the most." Takeo replied calmly, masking his anxiety and inner tumult with his steady voice. Then he asked, "Do you remember when we first met?"

"Um, was it on one of those trips when I visited the students at the academy?" Rena struggled to remember a particular occasion on those trips which would have evoked such a strong reaction from Takeo, but found none.

"No, it was long before that. It was more than years ago, in the outskirts of the 2nd Rukon District. You saved me from a hollow, then you walked me home…"

Now Rena remembered. It was one of those days she desperately tried to forget, one of those days when her life was still very much intertwined with _his_. She remembered more about that night as Takeo talked about it. She was explaining her bankai to Hitsugaya, and then she talked Hitsugaya into letting her going on a mission to practice her bankai. She remembered that boy who was too shocked to walk home by himself that night…. "It was raining that night…"

Takeo took Rena's pensive response as a sort of encouragement. He continued on, not bothering to hide his feelings anymore. His passion and emotions rang evident in every word he said; his face lit up with hope. "All I could remember for a long time was your face. You looked like an angel who materialized out of the thin air just to save me. From then on, I decided I will be by your side, no matter what it takes!"

"Takeo…" Now Rena understood. Now she understood his feelings and the reason for his actions tonight. However, she couldn't comply with those feelings; she never felt the same way about him.

"That's why I became a Shinigami, that's why I worked so hard to rise through the ranks: so I can be close to you…" Takeo was adamant to tell her his feelings, overlooking the pained expression his former captain's face.

Rena didn't know what to say at this point. Her head ached as she thought about this.

"…I've waited so long, so long to become a captain. Now I'm your equal; I am as strong as you are, as powerful as a shinigami can be. I can protect you now, I …"

'_Don't say it! Don't say it! Please don't say what I think you are going to say!'_

"I love you."

Rena shook her head. She didn't know what to think. Takeo was a great guy, he was hardworking, honest, respectful, handsome, and an over-all good guy; she didn't have a reason to refuse him. But she knew it would be a total lie to both herself and Takeo if she told him that she felt the same way. On the other hand, there's the truth: she didn't love him, and she doubted that she ever will, but that answer is going to hurt him, and this will destroy their friendship forever…

Takeo looked at her hopefully, waiting for the response that he desperately wanted to hear for so long. This is the reason he became a shinigami, this is the reason he worked so hard to become a lieutenant, and now a captain. He wanted to impress her: to impress her enough to love him…

"I'm sorry, Takeo. I really am."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

-Human World, Karakura District, Urahara shop, Evening-

"Hitsugaya-kun, did you lock up?" Tessai's gruff voice asked as the white-haired young man entered the dining room.

His question was addressed the very same Hitsugaya Toushirou who was the captain of Division 10 in the Thirteen Court Squads twenty years ago. Like Misawa, Hitsugaya already lost child-like exterior and looked like a dashing young man. He still had the same cold and calm countenance, but these features are now displayed on a mature face of a older teenager.

"Of course I did, Tessai-san." Hitsugaya Toushirou responded nonchalantly as he took his seat at the table. It wasn't until after he sat down did he realize there was an addition to the dinner company. "Yoruichi-san, you are back."

"Indeed I am." The black cat lifted its head from the milk dish and responded.

"And Yoruichi has some very interesting news, which I'm sure she'll share as soon as she finishes her milk!" Urahara's singsong voiced pitched in. He sauntered into the room, and right behind was Jinta and Ururu. They all sat down at the dinner table and began to eat.

Half and hour later, the meal was finished, Yoruichi turned back into her human form, and Jinta and Ururu were sent off to bed. Hitsugaya Toushirou, Shihouin Yoruichi, Urahara Kisuke, and Tsukabishi Tessai, sat around the table.

"Well, what news do you have to share from your visit to Soul Society, Yoruichi?" Urahara asked in his uncharacteristic serious voice.

"Not a lot of good news, I'm afraid." She began. "Let's start with the not too horrible news: Division 10's new captain."

The group looked over at Hitsugaya to see if he'll make any sort of reaction, but he remained stoic.

"Who is it?" Tessai asked.

"Nakamoto Takeo, former lieutenant of Division 5 under Misawa." Yuroichi said.

"Did Captain Misawa push for the promotion?" Urahara asked.

"No. From what I've heard, Misawa never even considered promoting her lieutenant to captain; she thought he wasn't ready. Nakamoto made the request for promotion to captaincy himself straight to Yamamoto, and it was sent back to Misawa for approval. Then she began to support his promotion. From what I heard from Soifon, Misawa would rather Nakamoto not rising to captaincy so fast, but it was out of her control when Nakamoto made the appeal to Yamamoto, and Yamamoto openly supported the move"

"Oh, that's nice of Captain Misawa." Urahara commented in his sing-song voice, and glanced at Hitsugaya once again for any kind of reaction, but found none. "Is there anything peculiar we need to know about him?"

"Not really. He is sort of a prodigy: the academy only took him 3 years, and he was with Division 5 ever since he graduated. He appealed for a promotion against his captain's will, but Yamamoto certainly liked him, and liked him enough to give him the captaincy. If you ask for my opinion, though, I'd say he is quite ambitious and a bit conceited. Misawa might have been right the first time when she didn't put in the incentive of promoting him. The power just might make him go over his head."

"I see. Well, I look forward to meeting him sometime. Then we'll see whether Rey-chan or Yama-jinn was the better judge of character."

"Now, for the bad news…" Yuroichi began seriously, "First, Soul Society confirmed out suspicions: _they_ are back." The atmosphere of the room turned grave and silent. "And," She continued, "Soul Society will soon start to send their higher-ranking officers here to control the situation."

------------------------

A/N:

mmh, any ideas on what they are talking about? You'll have to wait for the next chapter to find out!

hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter :)

review please, any feedback is welcome!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 4: Transitions

Everyone was more than surprised when they received the memo to attend another captains' meeting just two days after Nakamoto's promotion. 11 captains lined the meeting hall in the 1st Division as they waited for the Head Captain to make his entrance.

All the captains were congratulating Nakamoto on his promotion, and asking how his first day went. Rena was not part of the conversation, much to her relief. She wasn't even in the meeting hall. In fact, she was outside the Head Captain's office, waiting to have a private meeting with the Head Captain himself.

Even after 20 years of being a captain, the idea of private meetings with Yamamoto Soutaichou still terrified Misawa Rena. She's been through several dozens of those meetings already in her twenty-two years as a shinigami, but she could never say that she enjoyed any one of those meetings very much. Everything about Yamamoto scared her, from his authority and power to his character and personality. To top it all off, Rena knew that Yamamoto didn't particularly like her. Out of her colleagues, Rena had always been well known for her leniency toward her subordinates, and leniency isn't Yamamoto's favorite trait. Yamamoto also had his doubts about Rena's loyalty because of her ties to Hitsugaya; he almost expected Rena to run after Hitsugaya the way Hinamori ran after Aizen. He only promoted the girl to a captain because the other captains and lieutenants, as well as the ones higher up, thought Misawa had what it takes to be a good captain and pushed for the promotion.

"Misawa Taichou, come in please." Yamamoto's steady voice called from inside his office. His office was just weird, in Rena's opinion. It's a huge room with nothing but a desk in the centre. He always sat behind his desk when he has private meetings with the captains, or at least when he met with Rena.

Rena entered the room, bowed, and stood across from him, and waited silently for him to speak.

"Misawa Taichou, I understand that as of Nakamoto Takeo's instatement as Captain of Division 10, you division is lacking a lieutenant."

The mention of Takeo's name sent a spiral of guilt and regret rushing through Rena's head. However, those emotions only stayed in her head, not a shred of her inner emotional turbulence was displayed in her calm exterior. Rena understood well that as a captain as she should not linger on any form of emotion, and definitely not in front of the Soutaichou. Calmly, she replied, "That's correct, sir. I am looking to fill this opening."

"Misawa Taichou, I would like to recommend a candidate for you consider as your potential lieutenant." Yamamoto said.

Suddenly, Rena liked this meeting a lot less. Discontent flared up inside her, mixing up with all of her other emotions. She knew that she wasn't Yamamoto's favorite captain. Since day one of her inauguration Yamamoto somehow interfered with her division's internal affairs. One of many ways a man like the Soutaichou can interfere with a captain's authority is by giving him or her "recommendations." Captains would most definitely have to follow these recommendations since they are not in positions to challenge Yamamoto's authority.

"I would be most glad to hear it." Rena responded dutifully, not revealing how unsatisfied she became.

The soutaichou took out a folder from inside his desk and passed it to Rena. Rena took it, and opened to find that it is a file of a young man, about 17 years old in human terms, wearing uniforms of a student at the shinigami academy.

"Minami Toro," The soutaichou began to explain as Rena skimmed the profile. "He is another prodigal student currently in the Shinigami Academy. Please consider Minami-san when you choose your next lieutenant. We see a lot of potential in him. He is only in his third year, but he is set to graduate next week."

"Impressive." Rena responded thoughtfully. Minami didn't sound half-bad, bad Rena didn't feel like spending another 4 month training a shinigami officer from scratch. She knew it would be futile, but she stilled tried to argue with Yamamoto. "Pardon my interruption, Soutaichou, but I see that he is quite young, and he never had any dealings with shinigami affairs until he joined the academy three years ago. Do you really think it's wise to ask him to take up a heavy administrative responsibility this soon?"

"I understand you concerns, Misawa Taichou, but I have my reasons for making such a move. Minami had shown enough aptitude and intelligence to be able to handle heavy workloads during his time in the academy. Also, right now, the most valuable skill he has to offer the Gotei 13 is not paperwork, but his combating skills. He is an exceptional fighter, you see."

"Then shouldn't he be placed in the 11th Division under Captain Zaraki?"

"That is a factor, but I'd like to see more out Minami. A lieutenant's position will qualify him for the kind of missions he would need to improve his performance. We have high hopes for him." Yamamoto replied, with a harsher tone.

Rena thought the situation through again. "It is extremely rare for a student in the academy to get promoted straight to Lieutenant's position in the Gotei 13 right after graduation, isn't it?"

"Yes, this is unprecedented, actually. But I have faith that Minami will our expectations, and I have faith that you will be to provide the guidance that he needs, Misawa Taichou."

Rena nodded, finally yielding, knowing that she would be pushing her luck if she makes another argument. "I see. I will be ready to welcome him into my division as my new lieutenant as soon as he graduates. Thank you for your recommendation, Soutaichou."

"You may proceed to the Meeting Hall for the Captain's meeting, Misawa Taichou." Yamatomo said, ending the meeting.

"Certainly."

Rena left the Office and headed to the Meeting Hall, which was only 100 meters way. She went in and joined all the other captains, but avoided exchanging pleasantries with Nakamoto Takeo herself. If anyone noticed the awkward tension between Misawa and her former lieutenant, they kept it to themselves. Rena waited around for the meeting to begin.

The entrance of the Head Captain shushed the conversations. The captains stood in two neat rows, waiting for the head captain to speak. All of them were still quite curious about the purpose of this meeting.

"I'm sure all of you here are quite surprised to find out that there is another Captain's Meeting today, almost immediately following our last one." Yamamoto began. "But I'm afraid that the issue of this meeting will be not as nearly as pleasant the one we dealt with last time."

The countenance of the entire room darkened, waiting for bad news. Bad news that catches the attention of Yamamoto are usually quite serious, and bad news that need to be brought to the attention of all captains are often _extremely_ bad. Despite the gloom hanging in the air, physical reactions from the captain were minimal. Over the years, even Kurosaki Ichigo learned the need to keep his feelings to himself in certain times. Only Nakamoto Takeo, being a new addition to this meeting, had trouble control his furrowing eyebrows and constant nervous gulping.

After a minute of silence, installed as if just to tease Takeo, Yamamoto carried on. "I am afraid, that after all theses years, Aizen and his army of Arrancars are active once again."

Finally some reactions appeared on the ever-stoic faces of the captains. Surprise and alarm was evident on the face of everyone in that room. Takeo looked at the ground in shame; he was the only one the room who wasn't around when Soul Society fought the Arrancars the last time. To everyone else that name had always been like a thorn in your feet: it just hurts to talk or think about it.

Finally, after about another two minutes of silence, Kurosaki Ichigo finally asked, "How did we find out?"

"About a month ago, our contact in the Human World: Shihouin Yuroichi, Urahara Kisuke, and Tsukabishi Tessai, informed us of a disturbance in the spiritual particles in the Human World. We sent Maradame Ikkaku of Division 11 to the Human World to investigate. While he was there, he, along with Shihouin and Urahara encountered the source of the disturbance in combat, and they verified them to be Espadas operating under Aizen's command." Yamamoto said.

Everyone nodded as if to acknowledge what Yamamoto said. No one spoke for a while. After all, the news was grave.

"What actions will we take at this point?" Captain Ukitake asked with a sigh.

"All of Soul Society will prepare for battle. In the mean time, I will send two separate teams headed by two captains to the Human World to gather intelligence and keep watch. According to Urahara, the Espadas are quite active in the Human World." Yamamoto announced.

After another minute of deafening silence, Yamamoto called out, "The second team will be announced in a couple days' time. Kurosaki Taichou, you will lead the first team of three other elite fighters to be stationed in the Human World to monitor the situation. You can take up with me a list of names of Shinigami you want to take with you later."

"Sure." Ichigo replied simply. Even he wasn't in a mood to goof off.

After the meeting concluded, all the captains rushed back to their squads to share the dreadful news. Rena was especially stressed. The name Aizen is still somehow unanimous with Division 5. After all, Aizen was with this division for more than 100 years.

In the 5th Division compound, people still rushed about doing what they always did. They paused and bowed when their captain entered, and went ahead back to their usual routine, whatever that maybe. In her office, Rena found her Seventh-seat officer helping organizing the mess on her desk. The seventh-seat officer's name is a woman who looked about 25, her name was Suzuki Kimiko. She bowed respectfully when her captain entered. Rena smiled and nodded in acknowledgement.

"Kimiko, can you please arrange for all members of our division to attend an assembly today at 3'o clock in the courtyard? I have important information that I must share with all of you." Rena asked.

The seventh seat took the order and the left the room. However, the news didn't wait until the afternoon to spread across the Seireitei. By noon just about every single shinigami learnt of the big news.

In the 5th Division's assembly in the afternoon, the division members were anxious to find out what is going to happen to them. Last time when Soul Society fought Aizen, practically the entire 5th Division was under house arrest in their Division Compound. Most of those shinigami are still with this division and they really didn't want to relive that again. In that afternoon, several hundred shinigami assigned to the 5th division now stood in orderly lines in the main courtyard. Listening to what their captain has to say.

"Nothing will change. We are part of the Gotei 13; we will join all the other divisions in the effort to stop our enemy." Their captain reassured them.

Looks of doubt and skeptical whispers spread across the crowd. Few of the division members truly believed that. In all honesty, Rena herself didn't quite believe that either. Officially, Division 5 is a member of the Gotei 13 and they should be treated the same as any other division, but because of Aizen's ties to this division, Division 5 had its more than its fair share of alienation, especially when it comes to Aizen, Hueco Mundo, or Espada.

"Keep on training hard," Rena said, hushing down the doubtful murmurs, "We need to be prepared for the coming battles!"

Everyone nodded, though not necessarily in agreement. They still don't believe what their captain is saying about how nothing will change, but there is little to be gained by openly contradicting your captain. Someone, hard to pinpoint in the crowd, asked "Hey, Taichou, are we going to fill up the lieutenant position any-time soon?"

The captain smiled and nodded. "That brings us to another piece of information which I wish to share with you today. Yamamoto Soutaichou has assigned a lieutenant to our Division. His name is Minami Toro; he is a prodigy from the academy. Minami-sama is set to graduate next week, then he'll join our Division."

"How long did Minami-san spend in the academy?" Another voice from the crowd asked.

"Only three years."

That answer satisfied the shinigami. They nodded to themselves in approval and silent admiration. Rena saw that no one had anymore questions, and since she couldn't really think of another topic to discuss with her squad, she dissolved the meeting.

Now people in Division 5 had a new topic to gossip about: they are getting another prodigal lieutenant.

"I thought that officers with seniority have priorities when it comes to promotion, not the prodigies." A low-ranking shinigami on patrol told his buddy.

"Well, in last couple of decades years the top certainly seemed to have taken a liking to the prodigies." His buddy grumbled. "I don't see why they would bother with prodigies, though. We've had enough trouble with our 'geniuses.'"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, let's look at history, shall we? In the last couple of centuries, the most notable prodigies were Ichimaru Gin, Shiba Kaien, Hitsugaya Toushirou, and Misawa-taichou. Out of four, two of them abandoned Soul Society; and one of them died."

"Misawa-Taichou is doing fine, though, isn't she? And so is Nakamoto Taichou, he count as a prodigy, doesn't he…"

"Well, if you ask me, it's just that neither Misawa nor Nakamoto is around long-enough to screw themselves up somehow. Ichimaru was with the shinigami for over 100 years before he betrayed, and Shiba was around for about that long, too. Even Hitsugaya was around for a couple of decades before he left! Misawa only joined the Shingami 22 years ago. In a couple of decades she just might take a fall from grace, too!"

"Anyways, the Minami guy spent three years in the academy, right? Isn't that the same as Nakamoto Taichou?"

"Yeah. That's a pretty impressive time…"

"I heard Misawa-taichou only took two years from starting her training to achieving bankai…"

"That's only because she was trained by Hitsugaya Toushirou. Their zanpakutous are very similar: dragon of water and dragon of ice. I guess you can say she had a short-cut. For regular folks without a captain-leveled personal mentor, 3 years is a very good time…"

….

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

-Human World, Karakura Town, Urahara shop, evening-

"Nagoya?" Hitsugaya looked at the plane ticket Urahara Kisuke got for him. "Is it really necessary?"

"Of course it is!" Urahara answered with his lighthearted tone. "Unless you want one of our shinigami friends finding you in our storage room or bump into you on the streets while they are here…"

"Don't you think I'd be careful enough to not let that happen?" The white-haired young man retorted as his impatience grew.

"I know you'd be careful, but better safe than sorry!"

"Kisuke," A black cat came into the room, cutting into the conversation. "Why don't you tell him why you really want him to go to Nagoya?" Yoruichi's voice carried its usual commanding tone, and Urahara quickly obliged.

"Well, I noticed some disturbance in the spiritual energy flow in Nagoya. It's very minor and small; it may not mean anything at all. Soul Society didn't even notice, but I want to you to go to Nagoya and experience it for yourself." Urahara explained. This time, he didn't use his light-hearted sing-song voice, though.

"I see. You think it has to do with Aizen and his people?" Hitsugaya questioned.

"I'm not really sure of anything, but you can never be too careful!" The blond man piped up again.

Hitsugaya didn't reply to that. He merely nodded and rose to leave the room, while taking the plane ticket with him.

"Before I forget…" Urahara began just before Hitsugaya was about to close the door behind him. The white-haired youmg man stopped in his tracks to listen. "…Buy lot's of souvenirs, Hitsugaya-kun!"

The door slammed.

'_Soul Society is getting involved…so he really is back…'_

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A/n: hope you enjoyed! Review please :)


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 5: A Change of Plans**

The next week in Soul Society was filled with anxiety and fear. People were still adjusting to the idea that they are middle of a war, again. The chaos doubled in Division 5. Since Soul Society seemed to have forgiven the division for the actions of their former captain, Division 5 was busy preparing for war like all the others. However, unlike the other Divisions, the 5th Division was also busy preparing to receive their new lieutenant.

A week came and went. Minami Toro was introduced to the Division and settled down. About 10 days after Yamamoto's initial announcement of the return of Aizen, the Captain of Division 5 was called to the 1st Division's office for a meeting with Yamamoto once again. The objective of the meeting was fairly simple: Rena was instructed to lead the second team of shinigami to the human world. She was expected to take Minami with her, and she could pick two other shinigami to go with her.

Rena went back to her division to share the news with her new lieutenant. Personally, she was glad to get away from all the anxiety and fears mounting in Soul Society, but she wasn't sure about going to the Human World so soon with her new lieutenant. She had only known Minami for 5 days, but already she had a very clear picture of his character. He was talented, there's no doubt about that. Although he just graduated, he had no problem with his shikai, and in Rena's opinion, he was only inches away from achieving Bankai. He was extremely intelligent and analytical, and also confident and independent. He was also a good officer: he did all his work with high quality and he was responsible. Nevertheless, Rena couldn't say that she liked him just yet. Minami was a very opinionated individual. When he had his mind set on something, there would be no compromise: things just had to done his way. His confidence and independence didn't help either. There were several cases where he executed commands at his own liberty when he should have consulted with his captain first. Although he did make the right decisions, Rena was uncomfortable that he felt free to act without her consent. Yesterday she was so frustrated that she gave him a lecture on how he should respect the seniority and the authority she had over him, but she doubted that he took it to heart.

When she got back to her office she saw that Minami was working, seemly diligently. He stood up when his captain entered and bowed. Rena summarized their up-coming mission. She then waited silently for Minami's response.

"A mission in the Human World? I see." Minami Toro said calmly.

"Have you ever been to the Human World before?" His captain enquired.

"Only for short missions, for one day or so. I've never been on an extended mission to the Human World before, though. How long do think this mission is going to last?"

"I'm not sure. Given the circumstances in Soul Society right now, I assume it won't be for very long, probably between a week and a month." Rena explained. "Are you comfortable going to the human world now? I can let you sit out on this one if you want to; I understand that this is all new to you."

"It's alright, taichou. I can handle this." Minami reassured his captain. "I believe this will be a very good opportunity for me to improve my skills and prove myself to everyone else."

'_Here's his confidence again…Well, at least this time he is using them to boost his self-esteem, not exactly negative…'_ Rena thought "I'm glad you see things this way."

"Who will you take with us, Taichou?" Minami asked after he heard about the mission.

Rena was mildly surprised that for once, Minami was asking for her opinion before very decidedly giving his own. "Well, Kurosaki Taichou already left with his team, which included Nakamoto Taichou, Kuchiki Fukutaichou, and Yumichika-san. I was thinking we can get Abarai Taichou and Matsumoto Fukutaichou to come along with us. This way, we'll have two captains and two lieutenants, just like Kurosaki-taichou's team. What do you think?"

"If Matsumoto Fukutaichou comes with us, and Nakamoto taichou is already gone, who is going to look after the 10th Division?" Minami, being observant and analytical as always, pointed out.

"It's not like Matsumoto-fukutaichou will do any work without a captain pestering her to do so…"

"I see. When will we leave?"

"We are scheduled to leave the day after tomorrow."

"And we are going to Karakura Town?"

"I haven't been told otherwise."

Minami nodded and was about to go back to his work.

"Minami-san, do you mind informing Abarai Taichou and Matsumoto Fukutaichou of our plans now? If they have no objections, I will inform the Soutaichou of our decisions."

"Certainly." And with that Minami swiftly rose from his seat and left the room to carry out the orders he received.

**-Soul Society, later that night-**

Using the blackness of the moonless night as a cover, the figure slipped past the drowsy inspection of the guards posted on the streets of the Seireitei. Security was supposedly upgraded after the announcement of Aizen's return, but a few extra sleepy watchmen was no challenge at all to any determined and skilled spy.

The figure went into a forest, merging closer with the shadows. He took out a device that bore great resemblance to a cell phone, but the device was designed especially designed to communicate in across dimensions, and the signals were virtually untraceable. He dialed a number, and the line connected.

"Who is this?" An electronically (or somehow) filtered voiced asked on the other end."

"I am the Falcon." The person currently in the woods in Soul Society responded. The people whom he really worked for called him by the code name "Falcon," because he was their eyes and ears in Soul Society. "Who am I talking to?" Falcon inquired. It's impossible to identify anyone's voice after it was filtered.

"I am Thinker. And I _think_ you have something new to tell us, don't you?"

"Yes. They fell for it. They fell for our plan. All of them." Falcon declared victoriously.

"I see." The Thinker asked. The voice filter masked the pleasant surprise in his voice completely. "They are all heading to Karakura town?"

"Yes. Kurosaki Ichigo, Kuchiki Rukia, Nakamoto Takeo, and Ayasegawa Yumichika are already in the Human World. I think we need to start entertaining them and keep them busy before they realize that something's wrong." Falcon suggested.

"I will see to that." Thinker mauled over the information in his head. He knew who all the people whom Falcon mentioned earlier, except one. Thinker consider himself a veteran among his people, but he didn't' know the fresh faces too well. "Now, tell me more about the Nakamoto character. Is he a serious threat?"

"No, not at all. He is the new Captain of Division 10, but his skills are no where near that of Hitsugaya Toushriou. He is probably on the same level as the fifth-seat Ayasegawa. The Kuchiki girl is a bit weaker and you know all about the Kurosaki guy. Also, another team is going to Karakura Town tomorrow. They are headed by Misawa; Abarai, _Lieutenant _Minami, and Matsumoto Rangiku will accompany her."

"Should we pay special attention to any of them?"

"Well, Abarai and Matsumoto are not really putting much thought into this mission, they would just be there and follow whatever Misawa has to say. I can take care of Misawa and make sure she doesn't cause too much trouble. And of course, we don't have to worry about Minami, _right?_"

"Right. Of course, maybe it's time Minami worry us _a little_, it could be helpful to our plan…."

"It's up to you. I have nothing more to report for now. Long-live Aizen-sama!" Falcon concluded.

"I see. Good night, my friend. Long-live Aizen-sama!" The transmission stopped.

Falcon hid the device and sneaked back. In 15 minutes he would be back in bed and no one would ever know that he was gone. No one is Soul Society, at least.

--------

Two days later, Misawa Rena, Abarai Renji, Minami Toro, and Matsumoto Rangiku were readily on their way to the Human World. Renji was very mediocre about coming, but Minami managed to convince him that he'll have a better chance of fighting the strong enemies in the Human World than in Soul Society. Rangiku, on the other hand, was overjoyed to tag along. She was just happy that she now had a legitimate excuse to not do any paperwork.

The group gathered in the designated area and waited for the Senkai Gate to open for them. Unexpectedly, Captain Soifon suddenly appeared in front of the group and stopped them.

"Misawa-Taichou," Soifon said, "your team will be going to a different destination in the Human World. I will delay you no longer; this report will explain to you where and why your mission will take place."

She handed a folder to Rena and dashed off in the blink of an eye.

The entire team was quite surprised. The unannounced appearance of the Captain of the 2nd Division and Punishment Force, and the sudden change in major detail of their mission, were not common occurrences. Rena didn't react, however, despite her surprise. She quickly skimmed the first page of report Soifon handed to her and found their new destination. "Okay," she declared, "Let's go; I'll explain when we get there." And she rushed her team through the Senkai Gate.

**-Japan, Nagoya, noon-**

Hitsugaya Toushirou wandered through the shops of Downtown Nagoya nonchalantly. He knew it was a waste of his time, but he had nothing better to do. He was already there for 2 weeks, and he was aware of the unusual spiritual activity in the area. However, he wasn't able to pinpoint its location; those activities only take place at night. During the day, he just wandered around town seeing sights and buying souvenirs like any tourist. (After all, Urahara did tell him to buy souvenirs. He thought it was joke, but since he had nothing better do, he decided that he might as well take the joke seriously.)

In Hitsugaya's opinion, what he is doing is completely useless, for now at least. After each night since his coming to this town, he was able to narrow down the center of the abnormal spiritual activities to a smaller area. Soon he would be able to pinpoint it, but then what? If there are truly arrancars here, he can't just pull out Hyourinmaru and fight them; if he did, Soul Society will discover that he is alive and try to hunt him down again. That is only if he lived after the battle… He has no way of alerting Urahara, either. Urahara gave him a cell phone, but told him try not to use it. There is always a possibility that Soul Society is monitoring Urahara's phone, especially when Shinigami are in the Human World and are in constant communication with Urahara. And even if the phone was bug-free, what if one of the shinigami picked up and recognized his voice? He also definitely couldn't just fly back to Tokyo and go to the shop, because like Urahara said, what if one of the shinigami bump into him on the street?

In the end, Hitsugaya decided that he should just sit tight and wait for Urahara to contact him. After all, he is relatively safe here in Nagoya where there are no Shinigami officers running around….

Just as that thought glided through his mind, he sensed a rift in the reiatsu flow, and he realized with alarm that it was a Senkai gate. It opened for about five seconds, and then disappeared. Hitsugaya didn't sense any significant reiatsu emerging from it, and he theorized that it was because the people who came through the gate were skilled officers who knew how to mask their reiatsu really well. He sighed with frustration.

'_This is not good…'_

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Author's note:

**IMPORTANT:** when I post my next chapter, **the story will be called "Unknown Intentions",** **not "Under the Moon"**anymore. Sorry for any inconvenience!

anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. It's more mood-setting, but something majorly interesting will happen in the next two chapters!

review please!


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Yes, I changed the Title of the story...Anyways, sorry for the long wait. And I'm so so sorry about the grammar and spelling mistakes...bear with me!

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**Chapter 6: Unexpected**

**-Misawa Rena POV-**

Nagoya.

Rena didn't have time to go through that report, but she really wanted to. What do the top want now? Why was her team sent to Nagoya, of all the places on earth? It's obvious that the authorities planned this for a while now; they had people stationed nearby to distribute the gigai and related supplies; they even arranged two apartments in Nagoya as accommodations. (Obviously Matsumoto and Rena will be sharing one apartment, and Renji will share the other one with Minami.) The apartments are even in two adjacent buildings so it's easy for the team to communicate. It was all planned out by Soul Society well ahead of time.

By 2'o clock the guys already settled in and Renji took Minami out to run through what the rules are in the Human World. Rena needed a couple hours of peace and decided to send Matsumoto out with a shopping list. _'She'll probably come back four hours later with 20 bags of stuff, most of which are not on my shopping list, or useful in anyway.'_ Rena thought. _'Oh well, I'm not paying her bill. Besides, I I need a couple hours of peace to read this 127-pages report…who writes a 127-pages report? I wonder if they are paid by the hour…' _

It took Rena three hours of peaceful and serious reading to get through the report. (_'I hope they are not expecting me to _write_ something like this when I get back…' She thought.)_It told Rena about the abnormalities in the region's spiritual activities. An enclosed letter from Yamamoto instructed Rena and her team to investigate the source of these abnormalities. He also instructed the team to avoid drawing attention to their presence. The nature of the mission was merely reconnaissance, not combat. Another part of report gave the approximate location of the centre of these abnormalities. It was narrowed down to one corner of the city. The area was about 5 city blocks in size, and it was all warehouses. _'That is smart. Warehouses are spacious and there are very few people there. It's perfect for hiding. I'll go tonight to check out the entire area. Tomorrow I can talk this over with the rest of the team and give a reasonable opinion. If we all go we'll have a greater chance of exposing our presence here in Nagoya.'_ She thought after reading, but there were things that confused Rena. The mission seemed simple and straightforward enough, but Rena was a bit skeptical of the circumstances. Soul Society had obviously been paying Nagoya special attention for some time now, as evident in the report, and they had also planned this for a long time, but why didn't they release this information until 30 seconds before a team was sent here? Was this information even released to the general public in the Seireitei, or does everyone still think all the teams were in Kararkura? The more Rena thought about it, the weirder everything seemed. The explanation Rena could come up with regarding Soul Society's course of action was that Yamamoto thought there was a snitch among the Shinigami and the mission needed to be kept secret from everyone until the last minute to ensure its success.

Rena decided that she had found the answer that she was searching for and decided to forget about politics and military strategies for a while and relax. She took it easy and watched TV for a couple of minutes, and soon Matsumoto returned, with her 23 shopping bags. She went ahead to explain to Rena what she wanted to make for dinner. It took a lot of effort for Rena to hide her disgust as Matsumoto enthusiastically described a series of innovative (but not necessarily edible) food ideas. Inoue Orihime might have immigrated to France 18 years ago, but her influence in Matsumoto's style of cooking never faded for once, much all of Matsumoto's friends' dismay.

"Can't I cook for once, Rangiku-san?" Rena pleaded with a cute puppy eye pout.

"Of course not!" Matsumoto retorted with an equally playful tone. "It's just unheard of that a taichou should have to cook for herself and subordinate officers."

"If you seriously consider me as superior right now you would not be arguing with me! Step out of the kitchen! Please, Ran-san? Pretty please?" Rena whined.

"But your food doesn't taste like Orihime's!"

'_That's because my food is actually edible ….'_ Rena thought. After a while she just gave up arguing, but she was still adamant about avoiding Matsumoto's cooking at all cost. She told Matsumoto that she needed to investigate something for their mission before the whole team dive into the case and therefore she needed to skip dinner. She changed into a skirt, sweater, sweatshirt, and a pair of boots (not her ideal attaire, but she didn't have a choice since everything she had at that point were all purchased by Matsumoto), and snuck out before dinner. She headed out to the warehouses described in the report 2 hours earlier than she had planned.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

He snuck away from his company and found a secluded area to hide in. He was furious. What had happened would hinder their plan. He needed to let his people know. He quickly took out his cell phone-like communication device and dialed. The same filtered voice as two nights ago answered his call.

"Who is this?" The electronic voice asked.

"It's Falcon. I need to speak to Thinker, or someone higher up, immediately. It's an emergency!"

"I am Thinker." Silence. "I am disappointed in your judgment, Falcon."

"What?" Falcon asked in confusion. What did he do wrong?

"Why are you making a report in middle of day? Do you want to be discovered? Mistakes like these are the ones that might throw off our great plan…" Once again, the filter succeeded in masking the anger in Thinker's voice. However, Falcon had more pressing matters to discuss…

"Our plan is already disturbed! Soul Society picked up something! They sent Misawa's team to Nagoya at the last minute! They are already in the city! Do you honestly think it'll take a long time for Misawa to figure out where our base is?"

"Calm yourself down. The shinigami has no basis to suspect us or our activities in Nagoya. Our people spotted Hitsugaya Toushirou in Nagoya. The Shinigami could be after him…"

"Why would the shinigami send Matsumoto and Misawa if their objective was to capture Hitsugaya?" Falcon retorted angrily. "Out of all of Soul Society, those two are the least likely to choose Soul Society's orders over Hitsugaya. The shinigami are not that stupid, and you shouldn't be this stupid either if want to call yourself the 'Thinker!'" Falcon vented in a mad rush. This was a mistake, though; he shouldn't have insulted Thinker.

"I think I should remind you that I am still superior to you and I will not tolerate the disrespect which you have shown me with. Under the circumstances, you rage is justified and I will not hold you accountable. However, I expect more respect more respect the next time I hear from you." Thinker's voice said reproved Falcon sternly.

Falcon gritted his teeth. He hated it when people remind him that they are his superiors. And he seemed to have gotten quite a few of these comments lately. However, he was prudent enough to not retort Thinker again, so he responded humbly, "I understand, sir."

"Good. Let's reassess the situation. If the shinigami is indeed investigating Nagoya because of our activities, it should be safe to assume they picked the irregularities in the behavior of the spirit flow in the region. That is probably the only way by which our activities can be traced." Thinker said.

"I agree. And it makes sense that they have Misawa here. She is famous for her sensitivity toward reiatsu. If anyone can locate us by our reiatsu, it's Misawa." The Falcon noted.

"Yes. We can approach this in two ways. We can lay low and avoid immediate discovery, or we can just kill the investigation team from Soul Society before they figure too much out and report this."

"Well, at this point in time, the only way to lay low is to do nothing at all. If we make any moves, even just traveling between dimensions, Misawa will probably be able to pick it up. But if we kill everyone, it's screaming out that we are here. We'll have to evacuate the base anyways to avoid capture. Not to mention there are two captains in Nagoya right now. I think we should let them live a little longer…" Falcon pointed out.

"True, but we will have to exterminate the captains of the Gotei 13 soon, so we might as well start now. I do not consider Abarai that much of a threat. He is neither one of the best fighters nor the brightest thinker among his fellow captains; I doubt he'll be the one to discover and foil our plans. Misawa is more of a threat, she may not be the strongest fighter among the captains but she will be considerabley harder to take down than Abarai, and she is sharp; the longer we keep her around, the more dangerous it'll be for us…"

"Maybe it will work in our favor if Misawa is out of the picture, but it will draw too much attention to us if she dies now, especially here. Swarms of shinigami will come here to investigate her death. Then it will be even harder to mask what we've done here. Misawa is not that great of fighter, not among others of her rank, at least. We can kill her whenever we want, but now is not the best time."

The Thinker was silent for a moment. Then a brilliant plan came to him. "I still think it's never too early to start killing the shinigami, and I don't see why not start with Misawa. We'll let her live for a bit longer, but if she figures everything out before we are ready, we must kill her immediately."

"But killing her would mean…"

"No, _we_ won't kill her, or at least it wound seem like we didn't' kill her. _We_ just need a scapegoat." Thinker said. "The shinigami won't be bothering with investigating her death if they think that they know who the culprit was."

Falcon liked his plan, too. A crooked smile tugged at one corner of his lip. "Who do you have in mind?"

"Hitsugaya Toushirou. It would perfect. He already cut her once; no one would even be surprised if he attacks her again. If Soul Society captures him this time, they'll get rid of him for us, too. If all else fails, we can still use _Lieutenant Minami_ as a last resort…"

"I see."

**-Hitsugaya Toushirou's POV-**

The bus that goes across town was packed at 6'o clock in the evening. People were in a hurry to go home after their long and tedious workday. Hitsugaya Toushirou sat in a corner in the very back. He liked that seat for a reason: that way less people could see his spiky white hair and therefore he would receive less weird glares from strangers.

He looked out window. The sun slipped out of sight and gray clouds canopied the city, and soon rain began to fall. People on the sidewalk broke into runs to seek shelter from the rain. A light fog appeared on the window and soon it was impossible to see the outside.

He was frustrated, very frustrated. _'Why would shinigami be here in Nagoya? Are they here for me? No, don't be paranoid, they couldn't have found me, not after all these years! They should be busy looking for Aizen, not me! Then why are they here? Did they decide that they want to investigate the unusually spiritual activities in the area? That has to be the case; there are no other logical reasons…'_

When the bus came to a stop, Hitsugaya used his hand to wipe the fog inside the window so he could see outside and see where he was. He only cleared a square about the size of his head when his hand stopped dead in its track on the glass with shock. Through the clearing was a young girl looking about 16 years old. Her long black hair was tied in a loose ponytail at her neck. She pulled them around over her left shoulder, out of the way of her hood, and let her hair rest on her front. Her bangs were drenched, and they clung onto her wet face, making a stark contrast against her pale skin and hazel eyes. She wore a white sweater, a gray miniskirt, a pair of black boots, and a black sweatshirt on top of her sweater. She wore the hood to shield her head from the rain. Her slender and small frame shivered in the evening cold and rain. Even in the dim light of the streetlights the rainy evening, the calm, collected, and serious look on her face was evident.

To anyone else, she was just a pretty girl in the rain, but to Hitsugaya, well, he didn't know what to think.

If the girl outside saw him just now, she would be just as shocked as he was. She would probably turn around and run, or she just might come on the bus to confront him in front of all these people. But he would never know, because she didn't saw him. She moved along the line and was about to get on the bus. Hitsugaya looked around to find that it's too late for him to try and get off. There was no chance that she wouldn't notice him. Even though he hid his reiatsu extremely well, she was the master of hiding and finding traces and reiatsu. As soon as she gets on the bus, she would notice his presence.

It's only a matter of seconds now…

**-Misawa Rena's POV-**

After waiting 20 minutes in the rain, Rena finally began to doubt whether or not going through all this is worth it just to avoid Matsumoto's cooking. She also most definitely regretted not having a chance to go shopping before heading out. Now she stood outside shivering in the rain in an outfit picked out by Matsumoto Rangiku. _'What's with the weather in this city? It was so sunny and warm in the afternoon and now it's pouring rain and freezing! Maybe I should have left the gigai and go and investigate in my spiritual form, but the Soutaichou said try not to expose our presence…'_

She had a lot more on her mind. The entire mission still seemed fishy to her, and ever since she arrived in Nagoya she had strange feeling that something important is going to happen. She couldn't tell if it was going to be good or bad, but she didn't like that feeling and the uncertainly at all.

Suddenly, Mizu stirred within Rena. The dragon was somehow suddenly enraged.

Rena struggled for a few seconds to bring her reiatsu back under control, which is quite difficult when your zanpakutou spirit is not cooperating… _'What's wrong with you, Mizu?'_

Mizu refused to answer, so Rena pressed on _'Why are you acting up all of a sudden? Are you trying to expose the both of us?'_

'_They are coming. He is here. They are both here.'_

'_Who? Aizen? Wait, "_they_ are both here," what do you mean?!'_

'_You'll see. They are coming."_ Then the dragon refused to speak anymore, as if it was sulking.

Finally the bus arrived. A handful of people got off, but an equal handful is waiting to get on. Everyone was in a neat line. When Rena stepped onto the bus, a strange sensation hit her, but she brushed it off because she was busying purchasing her ticket. She moved along down the bus and the sensation became stronger as she approached the end. Then the realization hit her like a slap in the face.

That sensation was stimulated by someone's spiritual pressure. It was _his_ spiritual pressure.

She began to turn her head to the direction of the reiatsu, but she didn't need to look. She already knew what to expect, she already knew who was there.

She turned to his direction, and met a pair of penetrating, yet familiar emerald green eyes staring intently in her way.

"_Toushirou._" The name escaped her lips in a barely audible whisper.

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Author's note:

Wondering what Rena and Toushirou will do when they meet each other? Stick around to find out!

I'm so sorry that it took so long to update. I blame my teachers and the homework they assign (don't tell them I said that!)

I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! It's setting up the mystery, and I dropped a few hints here and there about Falcon's identity as well :)

Once again, speical 'thank you' to my reviewers

I welcome any reasonable feedback! So review please!


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: i'm so so so sorry! i know this update took forever, and i'm so so sorry. So without further ado, enjoy the chapter!

**Chapter 7. Closure**

[Rena's perspective]

I hated him. At least at that moment I did. I hated his presence there and then. I didn't want to see him again; I wasn't ready to see him again.

Right then and there I realized that lying to myself isn't going to work anymore. If I didn't love him as much as I did, it wouldn't have hurt that much to see him again. I felt the very being of my existence is being torn into bits. One part of me still wanted to be his friend; that part of me wanted to walk up to him and ask him what happened, where has he been, and how was he doing. That part of me wished that everything would go back to the way it was twenty years ago, when we were still friends, and I could still live with the silly hope that he would love me one day. Another part of me wanted vengeance; that me wanted him to pay for all the pain, both physical and emotional, that I've been through because of him and his actions. That part of me is the condensation of all of my bitterness and sadness, everything negative that I've experienced. I didn't know which side of me to follow. I wished that I could stop myself to from thinking about that day 20 years ago, the constant remainder of my misjudgment. I still wondered what hurt me the most that day, the fact that he physically injured me, the fact that he was leaving, the fact that he didn't return my feelings for him, or the fact that all the wrongs he had done me on that day was because that he loved someone else more than he loved me. It hurt to be cut, it hurt to be abandoned, it hurt to have your feelings ignored, but I believed that it hut me the most of all to learn that although he was the center of my world, I was nowhere near to be the center of his world. Yes, it hurt the most to know that you are not as good, not as important, not as loved, as someone else.

Things in life are never made to be easy, I knew that much. I didn't expect becoming a shinigami and leaving behind my friends to be easy, I didn't expect taking up the duty of Division 5's Captain to be easy, and I most certainly didn't expect forgetting Hitsugaya Toushirou to be easy. However, I never expected choosing between fighting him and keeping him alive would be so difficult. As bitter as I was about his actions against me, I still couldn't bring myself to hate him enough to kill him, although I hated him enough to not want to leave him unscathed after all that he had done to me. At the back of me mind, a monotone voice droned on another item that I had forgotten to take into account for my dilemma: my duty. I could almost hear the monotone voice of some document keeper telling me that as a captain of Soul Society, I should be at all times trying to enforce the laws of Soul Society at all cost, which included confronting a declared traitor with force upon encountering him.

I grabbed bar on the bus to balance my self as the vehicle came to a sudden and unexpected stop at the streetlights. Through the fogged window, I could only see a faded version of the dark sky outside. My mind was as incomprehensible as the image through the fogged window. The polar opposites of my own personal desires, and my sworn duty clashed within me. I knew that I still loved him for everything that he has done for me, and I still resented him for all the injuries that he caused; and my duty demanded me to make an effort to apprehend him, while my current mission demands me to stay incognito here in Nagoya._ Okay, I _thought to myself,_ I will try to weight out my priorities: I guess my duty should come before my personal sentiments. (Thank goodness, because I really can't figure out what I want personally.) As for what my duty requires of me, I guess staying in hiding and complete the mission that is relevant to the war we are facing right now is more important than chasing after a rouge shinigami that abandoned Soul Society 20 years ago_.

I felt as if the load on my shoulder on already lightened when I managed to come to a conclusion. Not knowing what to do had always been one of my worst fears, because I really don't know how to go anywhere without destination in mind. My plan was too simple: wait until the bus stops at the next stop, and get off. Nagoya is a big city, I will probably never to see him again if I'm not looking for him.

/.\./.\./.\./.\./.\./.\./.\./.\

[Omniscient perspective]

He wasn't sure what to think, but he knew one thing: they are not ready to meet again, yet.

Still, a part of him wanted to talk to her, to apologize, and he might never another chance again after this.

The bus slowed down and finally stopped at the bus stop. Rena followed the mob of people shuffling toward the door to get off. She didn't look to where he was sitting again, and walked off the bus as if they were strangers. The confusion and conflict she felt earlier left her face and a calm and serious expression returned. She looked around, and walked off into no particular direction.

'I need to talk to her,' Hitsugaya repeated his thoughts to himself, 'I need her to understand.'

Through the window, he could see her walking away in the rain. It was an impulse, and his better judgment had told him it is not wise, but it didn't matter to him for that moment. Hitsugaya got off his seat and pushed through the thick crowd now filling up the bus again, and he jumped off through the door into the pouring rain. Once outside, he looked around and found Rena's lone figure disappearing into the gray evening rain, and he ran after her. In a second Rena felt his presence approaching at that speed, and broke into a run herself, but that hardly made a difference since her speed at the moment was not particularly impressive. She could hardly walk in the outfit Matsumoto purchased, and not to mention she was soaked down from head to toe. In less than half a minute Hitsugaya caught up to her.

"Misawa…" He began.

His voice cut through her thread of thoughts like a sharpened knife. Everything about the voice brought everything she was trying to leave behind rushing back into the centre of her being again. Rena paused to regain her composure, an she tried to come up with way of sneaking away. After a moment, she said with a convincing apologetic smile, "I'm sorry, I think you must have mixed me up with someone else." _'You have no originality, do you?'_ She could hear Mizu chuckling at her lame and doomed-to-fail excuse.

"I know it's you, Misawa Rena." Hitsugaya persisted.

Rena could only sigh with frustration. She looked down for a moment and looked back up at him. It's her first time seeing him up close in 20 years. He looked older, more mature, more like a man rather than a child, but he had the same teal green eyes and snowy white hair, the same serious expression, the same sincere look in his eyes…love is a funny thing; it is the reason for a lot of things' existence, but its own existence has very little reason about it. It just happens. The moment Rena looked into those eyes, she knew that she fell for him again, or at least her former affections for him were renewed. Logically, there is no reason as to why she would want that: she had been down that road once and it did not work out in her favor. She loved him once, and she still loves him, and if she talked to him at that moment, she was scared that would love him enough that she wouldn't be able to walk away. She couldn't let that happen, not again. "I don't want to talk to you." She said finally.

"This is important…" Hitsugaya insisted, trying to dismiss Rena's comment. "We need to talk. Just hear what I have to say and I'll disappear completely." His voice was still calm and serious, and almost cold, but sincerity and emotion was evident in his promise. "I need you to understand. Just let me apologize and you'll never hear from me again. Please."

Several cars drove by the two young people, and each time the drivers would always stare at the pair of pedestrians in curiosity as they drove by. They looked like a quarrelling young couple fighting in the rain, and in this what appeared to be a very quiet neighbourhood, (especially in this weather), they were drawing quite a bit of attention from the people going by.

Rena looked around her. _'We can't stay here and argue like this.'_ She thought. "Fine, I'll hear you out this time. You've got ten minutes to say whatever you want to say, and then I expect you to disappear from my life, or else I will have to report your presence to the Gotei 13." Rena declared. "Let's..uh..go to that park across the street. We are drawing too much attention here."

Hitsugaya agreed gratefully. This was not a friendly conversation, and he could hear the hostility and frustration ringing in every syllable that she uttered, but he had to admit that it was fair. He reminded himself that Rena had all the reasons to despise him. They walked toward to park in a complete and tense silence. It was a very small park, just a grass field the size of a city block. It has a few trees here and there, and a jungle gym in one corner. Hitsugaya led Rena to one of the trees and used it to shelter themselves from the rain. They stood under the tree for a couple of minutes in complete silence, as if waiting for something, for someone to break the silence and tension.

"I'm sorry." Hitsugaya finally said. He said it with his usual calm, definite, voice, but inside he was very unsure. He had a lot of things that he wanted to say, but he thought that apologizing should be the first.

Rena didn't know what to say as a response, however. She honestly didn't think that she owed him an apology, too. So she responded with an "I see."

Another minute of silence passed between them. A lot can happen in 20 years. People can change, and their feelings and sentiments change with them, and they both knew that they are not the same people they were 20 years agao. Neither of them knew what to say. It's been too long, too much had happened, and too changes occurred. In fact, all the changes in the last two minutes were enough to keep their heads spinning for the next couple of days, but neither of them had that kind of time.

"I never meant to hurt you that seriously," Hitsugaya began again. He needed to explain his actions to her. "I just couldn't think of anything else. My brain was mess; I was a mess. I'm so sorry that I injured you like that. I really am."

Rena nodded. She still didn't figure out what to say, or what to do; she didn't want to kill him, but what could she do with him? She was risking a lot by just talking to him like this; if Soul Society found out that she had this opportunity to capture him and chose not to, she would have to face some very serious consequences. She could be charged with everything from disobeying orders to treason, and she could lose everything from her title to her life. She loved him once, a long time ago, but was he still worth it? She tapped into her memories again, and her heart ached more with each thought. Yes, she still cared about him. She still loved about him enough for her heart to ache even when she thought of him now. She felt tears gathering in her eyes, and they threatened to fall any minute.

"You can't just expect me to forgive you, Hitsugaya Toushirou. I know that you didn't mean everything to turn out this way, but they did, and there are irreversible consequences for all of us." Her voice trembled as she said this, and she couldn't help but let the tears fall after she finished talking.

Toushirou Hitsugaya noticed her tears, as well as the distance, the iciness, and the bitterness ringing through her word.

Hitsugaya sighed, and thought about what she just said to him. "' irreversible Consequences for all of us?' No one else was really affected, right? I tried to leave a clean break. You recovered in a few days, and you were promoted like planned. It's not like I caused any lasting damage on anybody…" He stopped dead in middle of his sentence when he noticed Rena looking him with a look of both confusion and rage through her tearful eyes. "What's wrong…?"

She opened her mouth to talk, but closed them before she said anything. Before Hitsugaya could ask her "What's wrong?" again, she raised her hands and slapped him in the face. Rena was right handed; since she faced Hitsugaya, she hit his left cheek. Toushirou Hitsugaya was too stunned to talk, but Rena wasn't too angry to speak, or rather, yell.

"You 'didn't cause any lasting damage?' You 'didn't really affect anyone else?' Are you really as heartless as you seem like right now? Do you have any idea how I felt? Do you know how I still feel today? Do you know how Rangiku felt, and how she still feels up until this day? How about Ichigo, Renji, Rukia, and Ukitake-taichou? You hurt everyone who had ever looked up to you, who had ever befriended you, fought alongside you, and trusted you…how…how could you say that you didn't really affect anyone? How could you?"

Rena panted; that yelling took a lot out of her. She broke her calm and collected facade, and recklessly revealed the passionate side of herself. She looked back at her former Captain, and found that he was calm and stoic as always. However, a hint sorrow and concern hung in his eyes, and a palm-shaped red mark is gradually becoming more visible on his face, but he didn't seem to mind it. He looked at her, and then looked to the ground. Rena realized that she stopped crying and she wiped away her tears with her sleeve.

Neither of them spoke for a while, as they took in what had just happed. Rena took a couple of minutes to calm down, and became extremely surprised and disappoint in herself for losing her temper like that. Sure, she was angry, but the tears and yelling was way over the top. "I'm sorry." She whispered after a couple minutes of silence.

Hitsugaya raised his head to look at her in mild surprise. "No…"

"I shouldn't have yelled, and I should have hit you." She elaborated, ignoring his interruption.

"…It's alright. I understand." He responded quietly.

"No, it's not alright." The calm and steadiness returned to her voice with time. Rena regained her composure, by now, and other than her reddened eyes, there were no evidence that this emotional breakdown ever existed. "I…I am sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I understand why you acted the way you did, I just…I just wish it didn't have to happen that way. I just wished that you would have stayed…that you would have stayed for us…for me."

Hitsugaya looked up from the ground and looked back at Rena, but he didn't' say anything.

Rena took the silence as encouragement for her to go on. "I shouldn't have lashed out at you, I'm sorry. I wanted you to treat me like I'm your friend, but I guess I have no right to ask that if I didn't even bother treating you like one. Forgive me for my actions."

"It's alright." He said again, this time with a rare almost-smile, and then added, "I should be one apologizing. I was the one that hurt you and everyone else; I was the one who left. What you said earlier might have sounded harsh, but I guess I deserved it. I guess I'm ready to admit that my actions 20 years ago were not the wisest decision. Can you forgive me for what I had done?"

Rena felt sad smile forming on her own face, a very sad smile. After a exhausted sigh, she said, "Of course, but…"

"…"

"What is done is done. My forgiveness can only go so far. I can forgive you, but a lot more people can't. I'm sorry. We shouldn't have met like this; what has happened today only further complicated the situation between us." She said. "Even I can't come to terms with my own feelings about the past."

"I see." Hitsugaya noded. "I guess I should be content that I finished saying what I came to say. I will honor my promise: you will never have to see me again. Maybe we can't ever completely come to terms with the past, but I guess we both did what we can to leave it behind so it wouldn't obstruct the future."

"I agree... I think today we both got the closure we needed; now we are free to move on." Rena agreed. "Goodbye, Hitsugaya Toushirou." She said with an apologetic smile. _'I'm sorry our friendship had to end like this…'_

"Goodbye." He said with a slight bow and a barely visible sad-smile, then he turned and walked into the darkening evening.

She stood under the tree watching. Although she was saddened by his departure and her ignored past feelings, she was content with the "closure" they settled today. As he his back image disappeared into the evening rain, she felt a part of her bitterness and sadness disappearing along with it.

'_Now we are both free to move on, right?'_

-end-

a/n: Special special thank-you to all my readers, especially the reviewers.

Don't worry, this is not the closure Rena and Toushirou had hoped for. [sorry you two!] I just don't think Rena should be ready to accept him and fall in too deep for him again.

this chapter didn't worked out very well, but i hope you guys enjoyed the story!

review please!


	12. Chapter 12

author's note: **IMPORTANT  
**i really hate doing this but I'll have to put this story on hold until July (until school ends). Sorry sorry a million times, guys. I will still be writing the story for the next couple of months, but i just won't be updating. However, expect frequent, (and a lot) of updates when i start again in July :)  
This chapter serves as mini-conclusion this segment of the story. Enjoy! (BTW, please excuse spelling/grammar errors)

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**Chapter 8: Pieces of Life**

Sometimes life-changing or downright traumatic things happen to people. Most of these people either hope life would zoom ahead so they don't have to linger on those experiences, or they would hope that the world would stand still so they have more time to figure out what exactly happened. But life doesn't work like that. Times passed, the rain still fell and the wind still blew, like it did that night in Nagoya. In the apartment occupied by the two female shinigami in Nagoya, Matsumoto Rangiku, completed oblivious to the events taking place in the other end of the city, capriciously decided to have a movie night and invite her two male coworkers over. However, the only problem with the movie night was that no one really liked any of the movies Matsumoto chose. They just settled for watching TV and talking after one hour of trying one movie after another.

As it approached 9'o clock, and Misawa Rena's prolonged absence began to concern Matsumoto. 'Where did that girl disappear off to?' She wondered more and more frequently as time passed. However, as concerned as the woman was, Matsumoto wasn't worried the least bit. She liked looking out for the young captain like an older sister, but she never doubted Rena's sense and skills; she wasn't worried, just concerned. Matsumoto, however, wasn't the only one that noticed Rena's absence. When she took a break from the movies to make a snack, the new lieutenant of the 5th division joined her in the kitchen.

"When did Misawa Taichou leave?" The young man asked as he helped Matsumoto take out a few glass from the cupboard and placed them on the marble counter.

"About 3 hours ago." Matsumoto answered indifferently as she took out a few fruits from the refrigerator.

"Did she say when she's coming back? Or where she's going?" Minami Toro pressed.

"Nope." Matsumoto said lightheartedly as she washed the fruits under the running tap water. In a moment she added, "Why? Are you worried about her?"

Toro frowned for a split second. "Well, a bit." Minami said.

"Well, don't. Rey-chan can take care of herself." Rangiku assured the young man with a motherly smile as she took out a small knife to cut the fruit. "How are you guys getting along, anyways?"

"We are doing okay. Taichou seems really nice." Minami commented.

"Of course she is." Rangiku commented absent-minded as she concentrated on taking a blender out of the cupboard.

There was a brief silence. "I don't think she likes me, though." Minami added a bit more quietly.

Matsumoto stopped for a brief moment, and then smiled kindly. Rena had recently shared with her the sentiments she had against her new lieutenant's attitude problem. "Your taichou may be a prodigy, but at the end of the day she is still just a kid and she can only take so much. She gets stressed out about certain things like everyone else, especially right now. Don't worry about it. She is very glad to have you in her squad."

"But I hear the other members say amongst themselves that even a couple days before I joined her division she was way happier." Minami persisted gloomily.

Matsumoto thought what she heard over in her head, and her smile faded briefly, and returned much sadder and solemn than before. "She has other reasons to feel sad, and it has nothing to do with you." Matsumoto reassured him.

That statement somehow set off an alarm in Minami's head. "What's that?"

"It's her personal business, really. I shouldn't be the one to tell it." Matsumoto said quickly to avoid the subject.

"She is my captain. If I know what's bothering her then I can help her." Minami pressed on.

That statement hit a soft spot in Matsmoto. The lieutenant of 10th Division gave in to her junior colleague's touching argument, because she was very moved by the fact that Minami was willing to try and help his captain, and therefore decided to slip the secret. "Fine. I'll make the long story especially short. A couple of days before my captain left for the human world, he had a fight with your captain. You know Nakamoto-san used to be Rey-chan's lieutenant, don't you? They were really close friends, too, for a very long time. For some time now, Taichou really liked, and by that I mean loved, Rey-chan. When he told her that, she didn't return that same kind of feelings, and that upset both of them because their friendship is ruined, too."

Minami listened intently. "Why did Misawa-taichou turn Nakamoto-taichou down? If they were friends then why couldn't they just love each other?" He questioned.

"It's complicated. She had, and she still has feelings for someone else." Matsumoto said quietly, and concluded the subject. "Now, why don't you help me set up this blender-thingy? I will make some yummy human desert called smoothie!"

Minami complied, and didn't pursue the subject any further. In the next 15 minutes or so when the shinigami struggled with the appliance, the door of the apartment opened. From the kitchen the two could hear Abarai Renji's voice asking, or rather, yelling, incredulously, "What on earth happened to you?!" and they dashed out of the kitchen to see what had happened.

Standing in the doorway was the absent Misawa Rena. Her face was ghostly pale, she looked extremely tired, she was soaked from head to toe in rainwater, and every inch of her was shivering from the cold. "I forgot my umbrella." She said to Renji simply, but her voice shook slightly. She saw Minami and Rangiku coming out of the Kitchen, and she smiled weakly at them, and walked off to her room. Before she entered, she turned around and said, "Actually, since you are all here, don't leave. I need to tell you guys something later."

She still wore her calm face with her serene smile, but Matsumoto could tell right away that's something's wrong. The smile…it was different; different from what it was yesterday, different from how it was earlier this day…

.\./.\ ./.\ ./.\ ./.\ ./.\ ./.\ ./.\ ./.\

-Karakura Town, night, Urahara Shop-

"What a beautiful moon." Ayegasawa Yumichika exclaimed as he looked into the clear sky hovering over Karakura Town.

"Lucky us! I just saw on the weather forecast that it's raining cats and dogs in Nagoya right now." Urahara Kisuke said pleasantly as he joined everyone else in his garden.

The smoothing evening breeze brushed against everyone's skin softly. It was an exquisite evening, and everyone enjoyed themselves; everyone expect one. Nakamoto Takeo sat alone in his room. The moon, the weather, the company, the breeze, they all meant nothing to him. For a man lost in love, only one thing matters: their special other one.

He sat alone in his room, and willingly let himself drown in his own misery and loneness. It was like falling into a pit of eternal darkness, like having the ground pulled out from right under you, like someone who always carried heart in their hands suddenly decided to throw it away, because she would rather be carrying someone else's heart. He loved her, and he thought that she loved him, too. She was the reason he left his disapproving family in the Rukon District to join the Shinigami. She was the reason he for every breath that he took and every second he lived for the last 20 years. He believed that it was love at first sight, and he thought she felt the same way, too. For the years that he had been her lieutenant, he observed her every act, and interpreted them as sign of her affection for him. He was certain it was romantic affection, not friendliness and courtesy as she claimed. He gave away everything he had to become a shinigami, to be by her side. His family never forgave his betrayal, none of his old friends did. But he willingly accepted that as the price to be with her.

Sometimes, friendship is just not enough; the heart demands something more. He wanted more than just friendship from the girl of his dreams, and he probably deserved it anyways, but it didn't happen.

"Why doesn't she love me?" He asked himself over and over again. "Why wouldn't she accept me?"

He pondered and wondered for hours in the darkness of his room. "I am not good enough for her…of course…that has to be it! I just have to try harder…one day, one day I'll be good enough for her…I will be...no matter what it takes." He thought. Yes, that is the root of the problem… and in the darkness he vowed to himself, "I will do whatever it takes, whatever it takes, to become powerful…powerful enough to protect her, powerful enough to help her, powerful enough to make her mine."

"Whatever it takes…."He repeated to himself over and over again.

.\./.\ ./.\ ./.\ ./.\ ./.\ ./.\ ./.\ ./.\

-Downtown Nagoya, night, Misawa and Matsumoto's Residence-

"…So that's what the report said." Rena concluded after her half-hour summary of the extra-long report she received earlier today. Everyone took a moment to themselves to digest the information, and Rena took this opportunity to put another towel around her hair. She took a long shower after she returned from her little trip, and finally got out of the wet garments she wore for the last three hours.

The team was reasonably curious about her whereabouts in the last couple of hours. After the short debriefing, Renji ventured to ask "So…where were you?"

Rena paused, and put on her regular mask-like smile. "I went to site mentioned in the report, just to check it out. It seemed like a good place to hide: very few people and a lot space. But here's the problem: I didn't' sense any irregularities in the spiritual activities; actually, I didn't sense anything at all. I don't know what's it's usually like, so I'll have to wait for the chart from the Research and Development Department tomorrow to see how it compares." Rena explained. "I hope they didn't somehow become aware of our presence in the city."

"I see. Okay, we'll all go to the place together tomorrow, after we get the chart." Renji decided.

"Fine with me." Matsumoto responded, and Minami nodded in response.

"Let's call it a day, then." Rena declared after seeing that no one had anything else to say. "Sorry about keeping you guys up so late on your first day here. Let's all get some rest; we have some work to do tomorrow!"

The guys nodded and quickly left the ladies' apartment. Actually, it was only 10'o clock, which was by no means a "late hour" to be working for the senior shinigami officers in the team, but personally, Rena was exhausted. Her emotional Roller Coaster in the evening and her lack of dinner burned out her energy a lot quicker than standard shinigami work. She helped Matsumoto clean up, and went to living room to pretend to watch some TV. Her mind was still working on what had happened in the evening when she was alone in town. She didn't ask him a lot of the stuff she wanted to ask him. She wanted to know if he ever confronted Aizen, if he fought that man in person. If he did, she wanted to know how could he have been alive since seeing as that Aizen is still alive and well, on did Hitsugaya get out of Hueco Mundo alive after being defeated by Aizen? Where had he been the last twenty years to avoid capture? Did he have company helping him stay incognito or was he working alone? How was he supporting himself now? She kept on wondering and wondering until drowsiness and exhaustion finally got the better of her, and her mind drifted away into a dreamless sleep.

.\./.\ ./.\ ./.\ ./.\ ./.\ ./.\ ./.\ ./.\

-elsewhere in Nagoya-

Hitsugaya Toushirou sat down on the chair next to the window in his hotel room. He thought over the events of the day over and over again in his head.

After seeing Misawa on the bus heading to that end of the city, he was convinced that she was sent here to investigate the spiritual activity in the region, not to hunt him down. However, he should still be cautious. She might not want to capture him and send him back to Soul Society, but other shinigami in the vicinity might not share her sentiments.

Now after their hasty encounter, he was suddenly grateful for how smoothly things ran during their short meeting. She never pried after his whereabouts and where he had been, which was fortunate in his case. She must have known that he failed to avenge Hinamori. Afterall, if he had killed Aizen already, Soul Society wouldn't be in this war again. He was glad that she never brought it up. He remembered how pathetic he was, charging up to Las Noches with half the good sense he needed to win a battle like that. Fortunately for him, Aizen wasn't even there anymore, and the arrancars were all too busy escaping and regrouping to bother finishing him up after they gave him a humiliating beating. They just left him there to die. After who knows how long, Urahara and Yoruichi turned up and rescued him from bleeding to death in middle of the desert in Hueco Mundo. After about a month in recovery, they told him about his banishment, and inquired after his reasons and justifications for his actions. He explained things to them, fully expecting them to turn him back to Soul Society, but they somehow felt sympathetic toward his situation and asked him to remain with them.

He remembered that in the first few months he thought it was so stupid to stay with Urahara and Yoruichi in Soul Society's backyard, but soon he discovered hat he was wrong. Shinigami sifted through every square inch of Japan trying to arrest him, but they ignored Karakura Town, and especially in Urahara's place, right under their noses. "The closer you are danger, the farther you are from harm." That was how Urahara explained it to him. After about a year or so the shinigami got tired of looking him and his life became more flexible. Sometimes he would dye his hair a different color and walk about town. Later he could just walk around as himself and none of the shinigami stationed in the vicinity even wondered about his origin. He had his doubts aboiut Urahara and Yoruichi for sometime, but after a while he began to trust them and helped them in any way he could in their lives.

He always wondered why Yoruichi and Urahara had helped him. It was a good three years after he started living with them that Yoruichi explained things to him…

_It was a clear night, unlike this one. The full moon hung majestically in the sky, and the stars clustered around it like children crowding around the storyteller. He was heading out into the courtyard for a walk, until he noticed that Yoruichi was outside. She was in her human form, and she was laying down with her back on the grass, and her eyes focused intently on the scenery in the sky. She noticed his presence and asked him to join her in her. He sat down on the clearing beside her._

"_Something on your mind?" She said lightly. " You always have something on your mind." She commented._

"_Yeah…" He answered uncertainly._

"_So, what's on your mind?"_

"_I'm just wondering, why did you and Urahara-san take me in five years ago when Soul Society banished me?" He asked, rather bluntly. "I mean, if you guys were discovered, wouldn't you get into a lot of trouble?"_

"_Well, we've been down that road before; it doesn't scare us." Yoruichi answered with a grin. "Besides, Kisuke and I both admire a man that dare to break the rules to do what he truly believes is right and necessary. You did what you had to try to avenge your friend." _

_He was silent. He tried to avenge his friend, he didn't succeed. _

"_By the way,, I have a question for you." Yoruichi said, cutting through his thoughts. He looked down at her. "Why did you do that to Misawa? I thought you guys were close." She had a mixture of concern, curiosity, and seriousness in her eyes. _

"_I was afraid that they'd think she's my accomplice." He noted. "I didn't' want to get anyone else involved, but I needed Misawa to open the gate. I felt horrible about leaving her in that state, but I couldn't think of any other way."_

"_What you did was a bit of overkill, don't you think?" _

"_I expected her fight back, or at least try to dodge my attacks. I didn't want to hurt her…I just a needed a bit of her blood to open that gate."_

"_Not a lot of people bleed without getting hurt in some way…" Yoruichi said sarcastically. Hitsugaya looked at her with surprise, but didn't say anything. Her statement made him feel so stupid. "Anyways," she added, "What do you plan on doing now?"_

_He looked at her skeptically, begetting her to clarify her question. _

"_I know you are not the kind of person who will be willing to spend the rest of his life helping around this shop. So, what's your plan, in the long term?" She asked._

"_I don't know." He admitted honestly. He never really thought about it, not about the future. For so long, he doubted if he'll even have one. In those days when the Seireitei actually searched for him, he usually went to sleep wondering where he would wake up, or if he would wake up again at all._

"_Are you planning on going after Aizen again someday?"Yoruichi inquired. Somehow Hitsugaya could tell that this was the question Yoruichi really wanted answers to. Her piercing eyes flashed with a sharpness and they lost their earlier cheerfulness and lightness._

"_Yes." He answered calmly, surprising his companion. _

_She just smiled at him sadly, in the maternal way. "I hope you succeed when that day comes. You know that Kisuke and I will support you if your causes are just and reasonable. You are a good person, Hitsugaya Toushirou, everyone here knows that, and believe it or not, we are not the only ones." She told him._

"_What do you mean?"_

"_I mean your friends from the Seireitei. Your true friends. When you succeed, they will be happy for you, too." She said with a reassuring smile, but sympathy and sadness was evident through her eyes. He knew why they were there: she just reminded him that he left some true friends back in the Seireitei when he left. He felt that sadness, too, deep within himself. However, he didn't consider it important, because to him, it's all in the past. Even if they were his true friends, he would never see them again. He abandoned them, and they wouldn't forgive him for him for that. Also…_

"_I can think of at least one person who used to be friend of mine who wouldn't be celebrating even if I managed to defeat Aizen." He said with a bitter laugh… "I left her to drown to bleed to death in the rain when I left to kill Aizen, and she was about as supportive and as close as any friend of mine comes."_

"_Don't be so sure about what you know about people, it's been quite a while since you've seen her, or any them. People are capable of some wonderful little things, such as forgiveness, you know." Yoruichi responded with a knowing smile. _

That was then. He never asked why Yoruichi would be certain that Misawa would still be supporting or have forgiven him, but he didn't' really care; he just thought that it was plain impossible. In their short meeting earlier that night, Misawa didn't bring up about the wrongs he had done her, but he knew, he could see it in her eyes, that his actions had hurt her. He knew that she cared about him, in fact, if he interpreted it right, she confessed that she loved him right before he left Soul Society. He dismissed that back the, because he believed he could and should only have Hinamori on his mind. Now realize that how insensitive and cold his actions toward her were. She just confessed that she loved him, and he left her bleeding to death while he dashed off to avenge another friend of his. He loved Hinamori, but he couldn't help her when she was hurt. While he tried to make amends for that mistake, he hurt another friend of his and he done it in such a way that he could never apologize to her again until twenty years later when they met by chance. Thankfully that meeting was also their "closure." Misawa made it clear that she hoped it would signify the end of their relationship. As far as Hitsugaya Toushirou was concerned, she is right, and he welcomed the closure. At least that way, he will not hurt her ever again. After these years, he was desperate to move on from all those guilt he felt about what happened between him and Misawa. Now after seeing Misawa, he felt like he was ready to move on.

'_It's time to really leave everything behind.'_

.\./.\ ./.\ ./.\ ./.\ ./.\ ./.\ ./.\ ./.\

-Next morning-

"I don't believe this." Renji murmured as he looked around him. The warehouse he was in was obviously occupied until a very recent time, by arrancar. Shadows of their spiritual presence hung in the air still. They were here recently, very recently.

Rena looked at the report she just received from Division 12 in the morning. It confirmed her fears. Already yesterday afternoon all the Arrancar cleared out of the area. Someone noticed the shinigami's presence and the arrancar escaped. Her only comfort was that it happened before she met _him_, so _he_ couldn't have been the one who tipped the arrancar off, but that doesn't help her team's situation the least bit.

"Taichou, when you came here last night, did you come in?" Minami inquired.

"No, I stayed outside. The statistics said that there were a quite a few of them here. I didn't want to walk into a room full of Arrancars when no one knows where I was." She said. "I didn't sense anything here last night. According to the chart, they were already long gone by the time I got here anyways. At the time I just thought that I wasn't sensitive enough to pick up their spiritual pressure if they intended to hide it well."

"Well, who cold have noticed our presence? Did you see Halibel at the mall, Rangiku?" Renji asked jokingly.

"No. Did you guys see Ulquiorra or Grimmejow wherever you guys were?" Matsumoto countered.

Renji just chuckled at the idea. "Who?" Minami, the only one who wasn't familiar with Soul Society's nemesis from the last war, asked puzzled.

"They were arrancars who survived the last war." Rena explained to her lieutenant, then she turned to the rest of her team, "Now let's get serious. Renji, when you were out yesterday with Minami, you didn't' see anything suspicious right?"

"No. None that I noted, anyways." Renji said

"How about you, Rangiku?"

"No, I don't think so." Matsmoto said seriously.

"Well, they were long gone by the time I went out." Rena whispered

"Maybe they saw us without us seeing or sensing them while we were out. Is that possible?" Minami suggested.

"It is a possibility. Nagoya is a busy city, we could have been spotted by people we couldn't see." Rena told him. "But it works both ways. If we couldn't see them, they shouldn't have seen us either unless they were expecting us."

"What are you getting at?" Renij asked with a furrowed brow.

"I think the information of our presence here is either deliberately or involuntarily revealed to Arrancars." Rena said gravely.

"You think there's a snitch?" Minami asked in terror.

"Unfortunately, I do." Rena declared.

The team sighed in frustration and distress. "I guess we have to report this to Soul Society, right?" Matsumoto asked.

"Of course."

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author's note (again):

First of all, you guys have been an amazing audience. Thank you all so much, especially those who reviewed and subscribed to this story.

I hope this mini-conclusion is satisfactory for now; lot's of new problems are piling up on our characters!  
Rena and Toushirou and off in their seperate ways again, but not for long! Under what circumstances will they meet again, and what then? How far is Takeo willing to go to win his love's heart? And who is the mole spilling Soul Society's secret plans to the Arrancars?

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!

Review please! If you guys are supportive, I just might update a few times before July! ;)

if not, well, see you guys again in July!


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Hi! Okay, I think you have noticed that I deleted the last chapter. I'm sorry, but I don't think that is where I want to take the story right now. Sorry for any inconveniences.

Now, I still need help coming up Arrancar/Espada names! If you guys have any ideas, let me know! (I don't speak a word of Spanish, so unless you guys help me, my arrancars will have random names from all over the map!)

Oh, and very speicals thank-you's go out to all readers who gave their feedback last time! Your contributions and opinions are greatly valued!THANK YOU!

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Chapter 9: Positioning

She balanced herself so she could sit on the thin frame of the window. Through it, she could see the sky, dark and blurry, shrouded in a thick curtain of pouring rain. She looked down occasionally at the elegant rock garden outside her office in the fifth division; the water are already pooling on the stone pavement path.

She always liked the rain, the subtle sound of the raindrops hitting the roofs, the walls, the leaves, the tress, and sometimes, her own skin. She felt lucky, in a way. Just last night in when she was in Nagoya it was raining. If she dressed properly and had that evening to herself, it could have been enjoyable. Today, already it was raining when she got back into the Seireitei. She liked to think that the rain fell just for her. Someone once told her that raindrops were the tears of the sky. Today, she felt like the rain were her tears. Maybe they always were. Every time she cries, it rains. It's easy to keep track of; she doesn't cry a lot. Her cheerless face broke into a melancholy smile, as she hopelessly realized that she was crying more and more recently.

The sky rumbled in the distance as a storm takes form. Rena watched the silhouettes of the trees in the storm, and gave in to ther physical and mental exhaustion that had been plaguing her for the past 15 hours or so. Everything from a failed mission, a humuliating debriefing, another couple piles of paperwork, and report writing drained all of her energy for the. Rena fell asleep on the window sill: not a very smart move on her part. During the night she unconsciously tried to turn, fell, and hit the wooden floor with a bang. The pain from the bruise she received that night compounded with a much dreaded morning of captain's meeting and debriefing.

In the First Division's meeting hall, the young captain tried to recount what had happened during her short mission to Nagoya. The failure to complete the mission didn't impress Yamamoto at all yesterday when he debriefed Rena alone, so today Rena was extra wary of the captain's reactions.

"It was completely beyond our control." She explained in front of the captains and lieutenants. "We arrived early in the afternoon. After I went over the report it was already evening. I got to site in the report before it was completely dark, and already the site was abandoned. I wasn't sure of it at that point. When I returned with the team in the morning it was clearly abandoned. After I had seen the update on the area's spiritual activity, it confirmed my suspicion: They left the area about three hours after we settled down. In fact, their entire evacuation process took only 5 minutes. Someone tipped them off and they all scurried away. I am sorry, but our mission failed to produce any real results other than confirming that the arrancars were active in suburban Nagoya."

The awkward silence following Rena's short speech was agonizing for the young presenter. All the captains and lieutenants were present. This was serious; it was Soul Society's first tactical move in this war and already it failed to produce any results, thanks to what is most likely her fault. The only bright side for Soul Society right now was that Kurosaki and his team were still controlling arrancar activities in Karakura, which may or may not prove Soul Society's efforts up to date to be not completely useless. However, even they were called back to Soul Society for the emergency meeting now taking place in the First Division.

"I guess this means that our real problem right now is finding the source of our leaking intelligence." Ukitake-Taichou noted.

Everyone nodded in agreement, trying to catch up with what's happening here in the room. As far as they were concerned, Misawa was supposed to take a team to Karakura town to assist Ichigo in his mission to fight the arrancars in the region. However, before that even sank into their heads, Misawa comes back from Nagoya, of all places, reporting that she failed a surveillance mission.

"Who knew about Misawa-Taichou and her team's presence in Nagoya?" Isane Kotetsu asked curiously.

"No one." Yamamoto's low and booming voice drew that attention of the room. "I took care into keeping this operation in the strictest secrecy. The accommodation arrangements were made a week before the team's departure, and the agent didn't even know what it was for. Misawa-Taichou didn't know that she was supposed to be in Nagoya until she got there. The report I sent her off with was prepared for me, and it was delivered by Soifon-Taichou herself."

Everyone was silent. By the way the story is going, it seemed like the leak could only have either Captain Soifon or Captain Misawa, and it's not a brilliant idea to start throwing accusations either way.

"Could any members of Division 2 have read the file when it was under Soifon-Taichou's care?" Lieutenant Hisagi asked uncertainly while trying desperately to avoid Captain Soi Fon's eyes.

"No," Yamamoto responded. "The filed had a recognition barrier. It was prepared for Captain Misawa's eyes only after it left my desk. No one else could open it. Also, I handed it to Soifon-Taichou two minutes before Captain Misawa and her team entered the gate. No one had any time to read the files."

"So the secret was safe until it reached the human world." Someone muttered.

Rena's heart began to beat twice as fast. Somehow, something happened that day that spilt the secret of the operation and ruined it. And since the file had always been with her, this failure, in all fairness, was her responsibility. Her team was recalled, and their mission was suspended, or rather, terminated as soon as she reported back yesterday. To be honest, Rena was surprised that she herself wasn't already suspended yesterday for her part in this mistake. Although she wasn't officially reprimanded, a long lecture from Yamamoto made it very clear that she was responsible. Rena nodded and bowed and listened, but she didn't like it. So what if the mission was her responsibility ? –she thought –it wasn't really her fault what happened took place. 'Well, blame everything on me is better than dragging down everybody else who came along with me!' Rena reminded herself as a comfort, still eyed the Soutaichou angrily when he wasn't looking. She knew that he was just trying to do his job and understood that he wanted to win, but her temper was getting the better of her. _'Why should I be reasonable and repent anymore than I already did? I did everything in my power to carry out your orders but it just didn't work out!_'

"Well, let's look at the facts again." Captain Kyouraku suggested. "The team reached Nagoya at noon. The arrancars cleared out of the area by three o'clock. Between noon and three in the afternoon that day, did any members of the team leave or wander about town, leaving themselves exposed?"

"Well, Abarai-Taichou went out with Minami-Fukutaichou around town, and Matsumoto-Fukutaichou went to a shopping centre. I didn't leave the apartment until six in the evening." Rena started. "No one noticed anything suspicious when they were out, and they covered their reiatsu very well…"

"That's enough!" The Soutaichou said. "What happened in Nagoya had already happened. We can only assume now that our presence in the city forced the arrancar to retreat and therefore terminate whatever they were doing in the city. However, since they had time to evacuate themselves, it is obvious that they are prepared and set to carry out their mission in another location. The most important task in front of us now is making sure we do not lose Karakura town as well. Misawa-Taichou, I would like you to take your team back to the Human World and assist Kurosaki-Taichou in his mission." The old man said with an even voice, a barely even voice.

Everyone in the room could feel the tension heighten. Yamamoto didn't like losing this first step in the new war, and he was trying very hard not to take his frustration out on his subordinates. Rena didn't even dare to respond out aloud. She just bowed deeply to accept the mission, and no one spoke. Soon the soutaichoiu dissolved the meeting, and demanded the two teams to leave for the human world immediately, a command to which the attendees happily obliged: everyone in the Seireitei just wanted to get as far away as possible from a certain angry, and powerful man. Rena was about to leave, when Yamamoto called out, "Misawa-Taichou, a moment of your time please!"

Rena stopped dead in her tracked and faced the old man again. Other captains eyed the situation curiously, and cleared out the room quickly. Soon it was all silent again.

"Misawa-Taichou, I still have a few more questions to ask you about the Nagoya Mission." Yamamoto said with his usual coarse voice.

Rena just nodded.

"There's only the two of us here, so I expect you to be completely honest with me."

Rena gulped nervously: she didn't like where this was going. Nonetheless, she nodded again.

"First things first, did any thing curious happen in Nagoya while you were there? Things that might not necessary have to do with your mission, but you think the Seireitei should know about?"

Rena blinked a few times. "No." She said simply. '_Well, actually yes, but I'd rather not share that…wait, why is he asking this? Is he referring to _him_?__**'**_

"Now, Misawa-Taichou, did you consider the possibility of a spy in your team when you found out that the secret was exposed?" Yamamoto asked.

Rena gasped. That was a serious allegation. "No! Never."

"Why are you so confident that no one on the surveillance team was the leak?" Yamamoto asked, while secretly analyzing Rena's every movement and expression.

"Abarai-Taichou and Matsumoto-Fukutaichou are both veteran fighters with long and honourable service records. They are also my friends for years now. I know that they are not the type do something like this; I'm willing to guarantee their characters with my life!" Rena said.

Yamamoto nodded, and asked, "What of Minami-Fukutaichou?"

"Sir, you recommended Minami-Fukutaichou to me; I have full confidence that you made the right choice which all aspects of his person considered." Rena replied politely. She really didn't know Minami well enough to stake her life on his character, but she thought it was safe to assume his innocence since Renji was around him all day.

"What about yourself, Misawa-Taichou?" Yamamoto then added calmly.

Rena's eyes widened for a moment by the surprise, but she pulled herself together quickly, and said, "Well, it's rather pointless of me to guarantee my own character. I guess all I can say for myself is that I swore an oath of loyalty when I entered the force, and again when I became a captain. I didn't betray my team, myself, you, or the Seireitei. If you don't believe that I held true to my oath, then it's pointless to keep asking me questions. If I wasn never honest, I wouldn't start being honesty now" She said firmly. _'Well, the part about my loyalty, at least…'_

Yamamoto nodded slowly, as if to digest everything Rena said, and then excused her.

A figure stepped out the screen behind Yamamoto. He watched the young woman leave, and then turned to the old man. "Pretty nice words…. Kind of ironic though, don't you think? She would have had a more convincing argument if she didn't say that last sentence."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

As guilty as he felt about being this way, Takeo Nakamoto couldn't be happier that Rena and her team was sent to Karakura Town to help them in their mission. They were all living in Urahara's Shop, therefore he could see her everyday.

He was still disappointed and saddened on the first afternoon back from the meeting, when she didn't even bother looking at him or acknowledge his presence near her. They would pass by each other like two ships slipping by in a busy harbour: no interaction. However, it got better for him. The next morning she smiled when she saw him before going off somewhere by herself. The day after, they had a short conversation during lunch about Division 10.

But his happiness was short-lived. Soon he noticed Rena distancing herself from him. Even when she was friendly to him and talked to him, there was a kind of distance between them. No matter how far he stretched himself to cover up that gap between them, it wasn't enough. Everyday, he could see her drifting further and further away from him. She talked to him more and more, too. Not like a friend anymore, but like colleagues and acquaintances; she was polite, respectful, and soft with her expressions and words, but that's it. She neither meant nor displayed further signs of friendliness or intimacy, only a professional civility.

Although Takeo was about as thorough as possible in his observations regarding Rena Misawa's behavior toward him, he overlooked other parts of Misawa's behaviour that didn't concern him. He didn't notice her going into the forest in the local park everyday, just to sit on and tree and lose herself in her own thoughts. And he most definitely didn't seem to notice that it's not only him Rena is drawing away from; she is intentionally distancing herself from everyone.

The truth was, Rena couldn't help but be bothered about what had happened in Nagoya. There was, and very likely still is a spy among the higher-ranking and trusted shinigami, but she doesn't know who. But that's not her only trouble. Near the end of her first debriefing with Yamamoto, he told her that the Stealth Force placed visual surveillance all cover the city and they could keep track of more or less what everybody was doing in Nagoya outdoors. They could track Matsumoto, Renji, and Minami for the majority of their excursions and decided that it was highly unlikely that they somehow contacted the enemy. In other words, Rena bore the greatest suspicions for being the leak since she was the only person who alone and wasn't watched during the time that the enemy could have been notified. And that was not all. She could still hear Yamamoto's coarse by firm voice asking, "_Did any thing curious happen in Nagoya while you were there? Things that might not necessary have to do with your mission, but you think the Seireitei should know about?_" If the shinigami could see everything that happened outdoors in the city, then they definitely could have noticed Rena's meeting with Hitsugaya. The more she thought about it, the more Rena believed that he was the "curious thing" Yamamoto was referring to, but she lied anyways. She knew that Hitsugaya wasn't part of the enemy they were fighting; she just had to believe in that.

Rena was ninety-percent sure that she was already suspected, and lying when other people know the truth wasn't exactly helping her case. She had no idea as to why Yamamoto let her go back to the human world, but she was sure that he had her on a tight leash. She would be watched somehow at all times. What truly puzzled Rena was why Yamamoto didn't issued orders of her capture immediately, and let her go to the human world on top of it all. What could he be planning?

However, no one else seemed to have noticed Rena's increased distantness, and they definitely didn't expect what was to come.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Are we moving along the process to fast?" Falcon asked. He was hidden well somewhere safe from any surveillance of the Stealth Force.

"No. Trust me; it's better to kill the threat before it matures." The Thinker's masked voice answered.

"I think I'm coming on a bit too strong. I can't keep on pushing my luck with Yamamoto; I am accusing a veteran captain of treason!"

"She is hardly a veteran, and she isn't exactly a favourite, isn't she? You have great evidence, and they are not even collected by you. Yamamoto's own people did it; you only guided him in his analysis…" Thinker did finish before he met another outburst from Falcon.

"Why do we need to worry about Misawa so much? She isn't that important!" He argued.

"True, not in terms of popular support and definitely not in combat. But according to what you tell me, she is sharp, and if she looks into the facts a bit more objectively, she will figure everything out. I want…"

"She is one of those sentimental idiots who act rationally until the moment when it really counts! She thought our surveillance picked up her presence in Nagoya and evacuated! She will never suspect me and she will never look at the evidence in a way that will incriminate people whom she expected to be her allies! Besides, Yamamoto doesn't trust her, not now of all times. She can't do much by herself."

"She can probably get Kurosaki, and the rest of her friends, and they can work independently without Soul Society." The Thinker pointed out.

"What do you want me to do, then? I already pointed it out to Yamamoto that she is suspicious, and thanks to her lies he is now completely on my side. Misawa is on probation; in fact, she is used as bait more anything else right now." Falcon told him. "I can forge evidence and get her arrested and executed…do you want that?"

"No, let me finish. I want her dead, without the stupid bureaucracy of the Seireitei. Do you understand?"

Falcon was silent for a moment.

"Can you get rid of her?" Falcon pressed.

"Maybe…I can try."

"Okay, go ahead. Also, you said you wanted to talk about your other plan."

"Yes, I think it would be perfect for a time like this." Falcon responded eagerly, but his voiced was a bit strained. The last order was hard to digest.

"How so? You will expose your cover."

"I don't have much more do to, anyways. I've served my purpose indicting Misawa."

"Your target, he doesn't seem to be such a great asset to the Seireitei."

"No, but think about the fact that after we get him and Misawa, the Shinigami would be two captains short. Think about the kind of morals it will raise!" Falcon chattered on eagerly.

"Well, if you put it that way, then I approve. Get to it. Afterall, we can never have too many comrades." The Thinker agreed.

Unseen by Falcon, the Thinker was actually smiling a satisfied and twisted smile. Two captains will be either dead or missing. 20% of the shinigami fighting force (factor in the fact that their tragets are captains) will be unable to fight because they are either missing in action or running around wildly panicking over the losses of their captains. The entire Seireitei and all its allies still have no idea about Aizen's great plan.

This war would be won easily and swiftly.

------------------end---------------------------

A/N: Well, this is it for now! Soon all of Falcon's cards will be on the table, and how will everyone react at that point?

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!

Review please, and Arrancar names!


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 10: Deception and Decision**

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"_Why are you here now? Why are you a shinigami?" Takeo asked his new captain while he struggled to stand up. _

_She wiped the blood off the corner of her mouth, and smiled sadly. "Because I was told that this is my destiny: to be here, to be a shinigami."_

"_So you believe in destiny, then?" _

"_Not really."_

"_Then why are you here?"_

"_Because I can't think of anywhere else to go… and there's really no where else that I can go." _

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Several youngsters hung around the front courtyard of the Urahara shop anxiously; their eyes kept glancing over to the front door. After what seemed like forever, two familiar figures finally appeared.

"Where were you two?" Misawa Rena asked Nakamoto Takeo and Minami Toro the moment they walked into the shop. An obvious tone of worry and disapproval in her voice hung evident in her voice. They were missing all afternoon, and everyone was looking for them for the past two hours.

"We went out… in to the woods… just taking a walk." Takeo answered half-heartedly, refusing to look at Rena in the eye. His had a funny look on his face, a medley of too much emotion.

Minami simply agreed with him, but his expression was somewhat different, also in a manner that Rena couldn't recognize. "Nakamoto-Taichou is now very tired." He added.

Takeo's appearance matched Minami's explanation perfectly: despite everything else, he looked as if he could faint from exhaustion right on the spot. He still tried to smile, but failed. Then he just headed for his room and stayed there until dinner. Something happened that afternoon, and the two young men seemed to have decided that they would keep whatever took place between just them.

That day started out quite normal, almost the same as every other day in the past week since Misawa and her team arrived at the shop. Everyone at the store found some kind of occupation and kept themselves busy with menial labor tasks, they meant it as a token of appreciation for their storeowner host. Right after lunch, the group of restless shinigami dispersed themselves around town and tried to entertain themselves with all the things the modern town had to offer. However, Takeo didn't return at 3'o clock for a pre-scheduled short meeting among the resident captains. Then everyone realized that Minami wasn't around either. After about an hour, people began to get worried and tried to look for them, but they just couldn't find them; even Misawa, Yoruichi and Urahara couldn't detect their spiritual presence: It was like they just disappeared off the planet for that afternoon.

Everyone had their own theory about the duo's whereabouts during the few hours in which they had disappeared, but none too realistic. Renji went as far as hypothesizing that Takeo went off to meet a human "girlfriend," but the meeting ended badly ("and Minami just tagged along for moral support! Com'on, how else are you going to explain the way he is acting?").

That evening was a particularly quiet one, since no one wanted to disturb Takeo, who left his room only for dinner, and returned to it immediately after. Everyone else retired earlier than usual for Takeo's sake. Rena tried to find out what had happened from Minami, but he wouldn't say anything. In the end, everyone just had to let it go and hope that nothing too serious or bad had happened.

By eleven-thirty, Rena, one of the last people to retire that night, was in her room and already dressed in her nightgown and ready to go to bed. She was half-asleep when an unexpected visitor showed up. She crept into the room in flash, completely unnoticed by Rena. Her long braids were still swinging from side to side gently even after she stopped, standing imposingly over the room's lone resident.

Rena was woken by the gentle reiatsu energy Soifon emitted. The reiastu itself wasn't any stronger than what a regular or even weak human could emit, but the fact that it belonged to Soifon alerted Rena, and forced her to rouse herself and greet the visiting captain.

"Good evening, Soifon-taichou." Rena said as she stood up to greet her visitor without much enthusiasm. Soifon's sudden appearances, especially at this time of the day, usually bring bad new. If it wasn't anything terrible, it could usually wait until morning. '_Good things can always be saved for later; bad things need to be dealt with now.'_ Rena remembered bitterly. Rena finally stood straight, trying to get rid of the sleepy state her head was in. Standing upright, she is about the same height as Soifon, but for whatever reason, Rena always feels as if Soifon was staring down at her with those cold dark eyes. She didn't realize that just about everyone, no matter how tall they are, feels short and nervous in front of Soifon.

"Misawa." Soifon returned the greeting with a slight nod; her every move and syllable is filled with her signature brusqueness. Her coldness unfortunately compounded to the awkwardness of room at the moment, and it also sparked Rena's sudden interest in the fact the Soifon didn't address her by her proper title.

Nonetheless, Rena decided to carry on the awkward exchange of pleasantries, but Soifon cut her off. "I'm here to inform you that the Steal Force will be dispatched at exactly midnight, exactly 17 minutes and 34 seconds from now, to apprehend you."

One sentence, just one simple sentence, and Rena suddenly felt as if someone just pushed her off a mountain. Soifon thought she actually saw all the color draining out of her colleague's face, but later decided that it was a trick from the dim lighting. But Rena did looked deathly pale for a moment, and her eyes looked devoid of lively expression. It took a few moments for Rena's sense to return to her, and she looked back at Soifon with blank look.

Soifon made a sound that sounded like a mix of a sigh and scoff. "The charge laid against you is treason. You are expected to be brought back for questioning, and then probably execution. The Steal Force is even permitted to use fatal force against you if the situation makes it necessary. You are already stripped of your captain status, and you are already a felon. However, the Soutaichou decided to hold back declaring you a traitor until midnight. The Fifth Division is already rounded up except for you."

Rena nodded, to indicate that she was taking all those information in. However, she looked tremendously shaken-up. Soifon could tell that her junior colleague needed more time to absorb all the information, but time was the last thing Misawa could afford to spare at the moment. She scoffed, but with more frustration than arrogance, and swept out the room.

Maybe after two minutes, Soifon reentered Misawa's room with Yoruichi next to her. All Rena managed to hear before Soifon flashstepped away was, "I'll leave her with you, then. 12 minutes left." Fully masking her reiatsu, she went as inconspicuously as she came.

Rena looked at Yoruichi, who looked backed down at her with pity and sympathy. Yoruichi, after all, had first-hand experience in dealing with Soul Society's wrongful accusations of treason.

Yoruichi, thankfully, was not one to panic in life-threatening situations, and didn't waste anytime handling the Misawa's unexpected plight. She grabbed Misawa's wrist and yanked her out of the room and dragged the still stunned shinigami into the kitchen, grabbed a glass full of ice, and then headed downstairs into the basement training facility. As soon as the first sound(and any other forms of energy)–proof doors to the underground arena closed, she poured the glass of ice and icy water on Misawa. Rena yelped when the freezing cold liquid touched her scalp, the raced down her neck and into her night gown along the skins of her back. Suddenly and efficiently, Rena drifted out of her dazed state.

"This ought to wake you up." Yoruichi said triumphantly, as she watched the young captain shivering with the cold.

On the other side of the second door, inside the training facility, Urahara Kisuke, and Tsukabishi Tessi were engaged in a very serious conversation with Hitsugaya Toushirou, who just turned up very unexpectedly half-an-hour ago.

"This is very reckless, Hitsugaya-kun. You shouldn't have come back before we contacted you." Tessi told Hitsugaya, who still had his face in a scowl.

"I thought they would be long-gone by now! I waited ten days after Misawa left Nagoya!" He protested.

"Yeah, left Nagoya to come here! Why didn't you wait for our 'okay?'"

In the increasingly tense and frustrating atmosphere Urahara Kisuke sighed, and stated very plainly, "There's nothing we can do now. You need to leave before the shinigamis wake up in the morning. It won't be hard to find you. This is a small place, you know."

"Can't I just stay down here?" Hitsugaya suggested hopefully. Three weeks in Nagoya was more than enough to make him feel plenty homesick, and that city, as urban as it was, became extremely dull after the arrancars pulled out.

"No, the shinigami still use this facility to train. And you can't hide in the compound either; we have four captains and four lieutenants running around right now, one if them is bound to find you sooner or later."

Hitsugaya sighed, annoyed, but grudgingly agreed. "Okay, I'll leave after this." He muttered, but he knew that he didn't really have a choice.

"Oh, and one more thing—" Urahara stopped when he saw a button near the door lit up; it meant that the outer door to this chamber opened. Within half-a-minute, the second door slid open as well, and revealed a very peculiar scene.

Yoruichi marched in while calling out, "Kisuke, we have a problem!" Dragged by the wrist by Yoruichi, Misawa Rena stumbled in, still dressed in her nightgown. What's more surprising was the fact that her teeth were chattering and she was shaking violently as if she was freezing to death, and her hair and cloth were partially wet, like someone poured water on her, which someone did.

However, Yoruichi stopped mid-step when she spotted the silver-haired youth, and Misawa stopped shaking for a brief moment when she spotted a familiar figure in the room. "What's going on here, Kisuke?" Yoruichi demanded when she saw Hitsugaya.

"Oh, nothing. Hitsugaya-kun will be gone by morning. What happened to…" He stopped, eyeing Rena with great curiosity and concern at the same time.

"Appearantly," Yoruichi began quickly, "Misawa-Chan here had a little rendezvous with Hitsugaya-kun in Nagoya, and it was all caught on film by the Stealth Force. Now Yamamoto finally decided that she is a traitor and they will be taking her back in approximately 9 minutes for what is most likely going to be execution." Yoruichi said urgently, while glancing at her watch.

Everyone in the room couldn't help but gasp at that piece of news. Hitsugaya felt a wave of guilty washing over him, but he didn't have time to hang onto those feelings. The clock was ticking. The tension in the room suddenly became twice as thick, and Urahara furrowed his eyebrows together as he began to think of a solution for this new sticky situation. Suddenly he is harboring not only one, but two fugitives, and even worse, the shinigami will be combing through even square inch of Japan to search for one for them, which could coincidentally lead to the discovery of the other. Has Yamamoto really lost it? Why sending men after one of his own officers when they have a war to fight? Besides, executing a decorated captain for an encounter with a fugitive who still had the benefit of the doubt seems way too harsh…

"She is taking this really hard, isn't she?" Tessi observed after watching Rena shaking.

"No. That's just icy water I used to keep her lucid." Yoruichi answered quickly. "Listen. Soifon thinks that someone is tampering the system within Soul Society…"

"Soifon? She came?" Hitsugaya asked in surprise.

"Yes, she was the one who gave us the heads-up." Yoruichi responded hurriedly.

"Why would she do that? She isn't the type to defy…"

"Like I said, she thinks someone is tampering the evidence or messing around in the system. And she also, she has evidence that could prove Misawa's innocence in another light…Never mind. We don't have time for that. The thing is, I trust Soifon. What we need to do is to figure out what can we do for Misawa" Yoruichi said, the urgency more prominent in her voice. "Well?" She asked Urahara earnestly.

"If you flashstep, you could be in Korea in 5 minutes." Tessi pointed out."Or a teleportation kido spell. I can do that for you…"

"No!" Rena suddenly spoke up, surprising everyone. "I'm not going to run! I am innocent! I know I am! I can go back and explain what happened…"

"You won't get that chance. You are not getting a trial, you are not getting a hearing. You are going back for one purpose and one purpose only: To be executed." Yoruichi pointed out harshly. "They are permitting fatal force to be used in your capture; the time for explaining yourself is already past." She looked into Misawa eyes, and her heart wrenched at the desperation and confusion in her eyes. The desperation and confusion did not belong to a captain of the Gotei 13, but to a young girl who was just accused of a serious crime that she did not commit, a girl who just realized that the people she worked for, the people she placed her faith in for the past 20 years are ready to just discard her and erase her out of existence.

"If she runs," Urahara spoke up for the first time since the situation was revealed, "She is going to look very guilty. If she stays, she'll die before anyone figures out that she is innocent. I think running is the better strategy here." He sighed, then he looked at Rena and asked, "Rena-chan, do you trust us, all of us here?"

Rena gulped, and looked carefully at all the people in that room. Her head was spinning and screaming in pain, but she tried to concentrate with all the control she could muster. There's one person in that room toward whom her feelings will never be comprehensible, but she knew she would and could trust him with her life. The three others, she knew, live now to help people, and to uphold their sense of justice. She never knew them that well on a personal lever, but they were earnestly trying to help her right now, and apparently they came through for Hitsugaya, too. Moreover, she really didn't know what else do. Out of the very limited number of people who ever managed to evade capture of the Gotei 13, they are the only ones whom she could even think of the trusting.

"I guess I do." She finally decided. She still doubted her choice; everything seemed to too delicate right now. Soifon broke orders to help her, and they could barely tolerate each other during the best of times. Why would she do that? Was that a trick? No… Yuroichi trusts her, so it couldn't be! Now, Urahara Kisuke, Tsukabishi Tessai, and Yoruichi Shihoin are people whom she has only ever had working relationships with. They finally gained the trust of the Seireitei again after a more than a century on the run, so why would they jeopardize everything just for her? The only thing that's a comfort to her right now is the white-haired figure standing next to Urahara. If they helped him up until now, maybe they would be willing to help her, too. Besides, _he_ wouldn't let her walk into a trap; _he_ wouldn't betray her trust.

Urahara nodded at her decision.

"6 minutes and a half." Yoruichi announced.

"Alright, here's my plan." Urahara said decisively. "Hitsugaya-Kun, stay with Misawa-chan until I tell you otherwise. The two of you traveling together maybe easier to spot, but you'll also be more protected."

"How? Wouldn't Misawa get in more trouble if she is spotted with me?" Hitsugaya asked; his brows furrowed.

"That maybe, but you two have a better chance of getting away even if you are spotted. Also, remember the Gotei 13 is not your only enemy."

"Aizen." Rena muttered under her breath.

"Exactly, in fact, I'm beginning to think he had a hand in all this frenzy right now." Urahara muttered, more to himself that others, until a forced cough from Hitsugaya reminded him of the present situation. "Right, we'll go over that later. Right now, you two need to get away from this building. They don't know about Soifon tipping you off yet, so this is probably the place where they planned to make the arrest; the first place they'll look."

"Alright, but where are we going to go?" Hitsugaya asked.

"'The closer you are to danger the further away you are from harm.'" Urahara answered with a mysterious smile. "But don't tell me where, I wouldn't want to slip that by accident! When you settle down, I suggest hair-dye, or maybe even curling iron; the search for you two will have to be visual since both of can you hide your reiatsu really well."

"Four minutes forty-three seconds." Yoruichi announced urgently.

Hitsugaya's eyes met Rena's for a brief moment, and within almost no time at all, they were both gone from the room.

-----------end----------------------

Author's note: I know this chapter is kind of short, espeically after such a long wait, but a lot is happening here! I promise that the next chapter is going to be a long one, since it's going to tie most of what happened in Part II together, so hopefully that makes up for this chapter being short!

Also, the line 'The closer you are to danger the further away you are from harm.' is borrowed from the movie "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," directly by Peter Jackson. I used it here because I do believe it!

Anyways, I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Review please!


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 11: The Flight**

All members of Division Five were rounded up in their main dining hall. They whispered, murmured, grumbled, and some even complained out aloud.

"You can't keep us here!"

"We are not responsible for our captain's actions! Let us go!"

"Where's Minami-Fukutaichou? Why isn't he talking to these idiots and telling them to release us!"

It was almost dawn, and the members of the Fifth Division were getting increasingly restless. They were rounded up and put under house arrest round eleven the night before, and five hours already passed since they first came here.

At first no one had any idea about what happened. Everyone was just confused when they were pulled out of their various missions and duties and were shoved into the dinning hall by armed members of the Stealth Force. But by midnight, everything became clear. Their captain betrayed them, again. She, like the two captains of this division before her, betrayed Soul Society and operated against orders. As punishment for her actions, she was going to be brought back for execution. There were cries of outrage and disbelief. Many stood up to defend the character and intention of their captain, but their superiors did not take these tokens of loyalty seriously. There were many shoving matches within the hall between the Fifth Division and the Stealth Force, a few even brandished their weapons, but the standoff continued. Everyone waited and waited for a definitive answer, as the moments ever so slowly crept by.

But before things got better, it got worse. Within five minutes the word came: Misawa escaped. She left the Urahara Compound some five minutes before her supposed capture and was never seen again. If anyone thought she was innocent before, now they stopped to ponder on their conclusion. Innocent people don't run from accusations, they reason and defend themselves civilly. Mood of the room suddenly turned bitter, as the Division members began to accept the treachery of their captain. They were informed that they would continue to stay under house arrest, and they must surrender their weapons. Minami turned up sometime around then, and obediently and gallantly surrendered his zanpakutou. The division members watched with grateful and moved tears as him was brought away for questioning.

They heard a bell signally an emergency captain meeting. They heard footsteps over their roof as some free shinigami passed by, hoping to glimpse what's happening to the dreadful Fifth Division again. They felt violent turbulences in reiatsu as other captains raged after they found out about the betrayal. But the worst feelings came from within that room. There were feelings of the bitterness, from being toyed with and betrayed by a trust captain again. There were feelings of disappoint as they realized that everything they've built up over the last twenty years under Misawa would be swept way after this ordeal. There were feelings of fear, and they thought of what might happen to them now that their captain committed a crime like this. However, the most prominent, the most suffocating, and the most disturbing feeling in that room could only be summarized with one word, shame. Shame, for they were ashamed of being in the same division whose number was ever so meticulously sewn onto the white haori of the their treacherous captain…_captains_.

* * *

Nakamoto Takeo looked out his window at the stone garden outside his office. Matsumoto sat at her desk, not working, but at least she wasn't asleep. Her complexion lost its usually vibrant glow, but she was still awake, probably kept up by the shock of what had happened. Nevertheless, she was tired; everybody was.

Fatigue plagued every single shinigami by morning, with the possible exception of those trained to work prolonged hours and those used to night shifts, because everyone was awake last night. Misawa's indictment by itself made a nasty surprise, but the fact that she managed to escape was an even greater shock. All those who believed her to be innocent were baffled. After all, only the guilty runs from the crime, the innocent has nothing to fear. Even more incriminating was the fact that she knew when to run. How did she know about that, and if she really was innocent, why bother?

Surprisingly, to the few who noticed, Nakamoto Takeo, Misawa's former lieutenant, didn't react much. He didn't plead for her case like few of the other captains did, he didn't even seem all that surprised. Sure, he was upset like everyone else, but he reacted very little considering his position.

Few knew that Nakamoto Takeo had other things in mind, things that he believed will ultimately make the difference in his former captain's situation. He watched the swallow land on one of the rocks in the garden, looking curiously at the wave-like pattern created by the roof tiles. Faintly, he heard the clock strike three in the afternoon, and he left his office without a word.

He walked and walked, until he was in front of Fifth Division House again. The familiar doors were guarded this time not by division members, but several dozen fully armed Stealth Force warriors. They let him inside, but not quite willingly. They offered escorts, but Takeo declined. He knew every corridor, every hall, every dormitory, every office, and even every closet's location in this particular compound by heart. However, this was probably the first time that it was ever this quiet. Even at night during the regular days, there would still be shinigami on safety patrol. Now there's absolutely no one outside, save for the Stealth Force members surrounding the sleeping quarters and the main dinning hall, where all of the division members were under house arrest.

Takeo wasted no time and headed straight for the Lieutenant's office. It was his for such a long time before now, and it felt really awkward now having to go there as a visitor. He walked along the pathway that once walked on every day, mentally praised the stone garden outside his old office as he passed, and soon he stood in front of the familiar wood and paper-screen doors of the office. The doors opened by themselves, and Minami Toro stepped out of the office, closing the door behind him. Takeo noticed that Minami still didn't get his zanpakutou back, and that the lieutenant, like everyone else, looked tired and deep in thought.

"Good afternoon, Nakamoto-Taichou. Glad to see that you could make it." He greeted courteously, but without any emotion.

Takeo nodded and muttered something unintelligible. Minami pretended not to have noticed, and led the way as the two young men away from the office. After the captains' meeting earlier that day, Nakamoto got a hold of Minami and asked if they could talk again. Yesterday afternoon back in Karakura, they had a very serious talk that could not afford to not be finished.

They walked into the stone garden outside the Captain's Office. The administrative wing of the Fifth Division was searched last night, and by now it's already deserted. The two young men stood there in silence for a moment while pretending to admire the view. After seeing that Nakamoto was unwillingly to bring up that topic, Minami began talking instead.

"So, do you still think you want to fight along side the Seireitei?" He went, straight to the point, picking up where they left off yesterday.

Nakamoto was silent. Every time he gathered enough conviction to answer the question "correctly," the words slid back down his throat as soon as looked up and saw his former captain's office. So much memory and emotion flooded his brain when he looked at that room and when he thought of the person who used to occupy it. How could fate make it come down to this? How could fate make him decide between the two things that matters to him the most? What could possibly be the right choice?

Minami observed every detail of Takeo's struggle with twisted delight. He was taught to enjoy the silly and pointless struggles of the lesser creatures. Nakamoto Takeo's life, to Minami, is a so much of a tragedy that it's almost funny. He devoted the last twenty years of life hoping that one day Misawa would fall in love with him. He worked so hard to become a prodigy, to get assigned to Misawa's division, and to work his way up to a lieutenant. He wanted to "protect" her, but how could that be possible when he was so weak? He wanted to impress her by becoming a captain, but how could she be pleased in the slightest when he did it without her support and approval? Misawa never saw him any more than a comrade and a friend, but Nakamoto was too blinded by his obsessions to see that. Just like he was too blinded to see that he wasn't cunning or strong enough to be captain, or realize that Misawa would never love him that way. Probably, Minami thought, he doesn't eve love her. He just had a crush on her twenty years ago when she saved his life, but he probably doesn't even really love her anymore. He just convinced himself that he does. He became a shinigami for Misawa, so now that he has a so called "dilemma" between the Seireitei and Misawa, he would go with Misawa, he would definitely choose Misawa.

Of course, Minami's hope wasn't to really let him go with Misawa, but bring him to nudge him into another direction.

"They are taking away the thing that's more important in your life. Are you still going to side with them?" Minami pressed.

Nakamoto remained silent because he still couldn't trust himself to speak.

Minami frowned at the silence. Takeo Nakamoto maybe as naïve and as predictable as Minami expected, but he was more rational than anticipated. Two sentences from an almost-complete stranger wasn't enough to make him just turn his back on one of the most powerful and extensive establishments in the spiritual world. Minami needed a different strategy. "And I thought you were different." He scoffed, " How much of what you said yesterday was true? 'I'm fighting to protect Rena!' 'I became a shinigami for her.' 'I would give everything to keep her safe and happy.' It seems like you aren't even willing to give up this flashy haori for her! Or is it the power that you don't want to let go? So it's all talk, isn't? You are just a two-faced coward who doesn't have the guts to stand up for _anything_, not ideals, not love."

That did the trick. Suddenly Takeo retorted angrily, "You are wrong! I would give anything for her, but just can't see how joining you is going to help her! She is innocent. You framed her, I know it. If you didn't, you wouldn't have asked me those things yesterday! You knew Yamamoto was coming after her! You told him to!"

Minami grinned in a very frightening way. So maybe Nakamoto wasn't as stupid as expected either, but at least he is taking the bait. The angrier he gets, the easier it'll be to convince him. "I'm not denying it. I told Yamamoto that she could be plotting with Hitsugaya against the Seireitei. I told him that she could have leaked the information. But I didn't _accuse_ her of anything, I just suggest Yamamoto to interpret the data in a certain way." Minami responded smoothly. "And keep in mind, I didn't tell Misawa to meet up with Hitsugaya, I didn't tell her to not capture him, I didn't tell her to lie about it in front of Yamamoto, and I definitely did not tell her to run last night. She would probably have died by now if she didn't run. I wonder who let it slip…"

"Traitor!" Takeo said through gritted teeth. "It was you the entire time, wasn't it? You planned this entire thing to get rid of Rena, why?!"

"Well, don't flatter me too much. I didn't plan the Nagoya Mission. When I went I had to alert my people. I didn't know Hitsugaya would be there. He isn't even on our side, really, but it worked out just fine. Misawa was too soft to kill him; she got herself into the jam she is in now. Even if she just pulled a sword on him I wouldn't have been able to frame her as easily."

"You monster! I can go to the Soutaichou right now and tell him what you are!" Takeo was red in the face by then. He was breathing heavily and his face contorted into a furious scowl.

Minami laughed, very coldly. He actually succeeded in actually pushing Nakamoto to this point. He watched the flushed appearance of the young man in front of him, not realizing that his own handsome features were somehow distorted by this malevolent look in his eyes. "And you are going to tell him what? That his favorite prodigy is manipulating him? That he should take the word of Misawa's lovesick admirer over his handpicked agent to keep an eye on Misawa?"

Takeo's eyes widened at the statement, but his voice failed him yet again. Minami continued, "Oh, yes, don't act so surprised. Yamamoto never liked Misawa that much, especially after the whole fiasco with Hitsugaya twenty years ago. He made her a captain only because the other captains were pleading for her case. Why do you think he promoted you? Two birds one stone, really. Firstly, it was to free up the lieutenant position so I can come a keep an eye on her for him. Like I said, he doesn't trust her. Secondly, he wanted to test your loyalty. If you were really her puppet in 'her evil scheme against the Seireitei,' she would have wanted to keep you close. Misawa really fell for the second one, of course, because I understand that she refused to back your request for promotion for several times, until you brought the case to Yamamoto. Then again, she was just doing her job, because seriously, you are not ready to be a captain." 'A wimp like you never will be.' Minami added silently to himself, with a mental sneer.

Minami paused to take in the look of pure shock on Takeo's face, and moved on. "Well, in a sense he was right about her. Even if what happened twenty years ago with Hitsugaya's desertion and the Senkai gate wasn't debatable, Misawa had a choice in Nagoya. She could have arrested him. She could have killed him. At the very least, she could have fought –"

"He was her mentor!" Nakamoto suddenly snapped angrily. "She wouldn't fight him! He could have killed her!"

"If that was the case, then we wouldn't be having his problem. They were talking, then she started yelling at him, but he didn't retaliate. Then she _slapped_ him, and he didn't do anything either. She didn't even arm herself. She never wanted to kill him, and him her. Misawa chose Hitsugaya Toushirou over the Seireitei, and the Seireitei isn't going to take that. Do you really want to be the people who are trying to hunt her down and kill her?"

Another silence followed, but it was broken soon by the response that Minami wanted to hear for so long.

"What can I do?" Nakamoto Takeo said coarsely. "What can I do to help her? You seem to have a plan. Tell me…TELL ME!"

"Come with me. Join me, join Aizen-sama." Minami replied calmly. He caught the pained expression on Minami's face, and added coldly, "Don't give the crap you said yesterday, about fighting for the 'right cause' or what you believe in. You don't believe in the Seireitei, Misawa didn't either. Now you see why. They are not worthy of anyone's allegiance, not with the way they treat their people. If you want to protect Misawa from the Seireitei, come with me. Once you earn his trust and favor, Aizen-sama will train you to be strong so you can protect her, and he will make her safety a priority for all the arrancars just for your sake."

Nakamoto was still silent. The offer is sounding more tempting than ever, but is it valid?

As if reading his mind, Minami added, "I give you my word."

With a nervous gulp, Nakamoto looked into Minami's eyes to search for hint of deceit, but found none. Aizen's puppet in Soul Society was a trained expert in the art of deception and concealing. His eyes were empty and cold, and devoid of all emotions. Nakamoto stared at his in grudging admiration. This was the man who slipped the Seireitei's secrets to the Arrancars. This was man who framed his captain for treason to save his own butt. Yet, this was man who earned Yamamoto's outmost trust and confidence. This is the man who can offer him a way out. This man showed him that there's no such thing as right and wrong, that it's all just in perspective. All that really matters is the power to attain and protect what matters.

"I take your offer." Nakamoto announced solemnly. Soul Society doesn't matter to him anymore, not without Rena, not after they wanted to hurt Rena. Minami was right, he needed to fight to protect what matters to him. "I will denounce my allegiance to the Seireitei and join you, if you offer protection for Misawa Rena."

A crooked grin reappeared on Minami's face. He held out his hand in the western way of greeting, and added smoothly, "Welcome to the cause, Nakamoto Takeo."

* * *

The sunset was red like a pool of blood. It was as magnificent as it always had been for Hitsugaya Toushirou. He liked watching the sunset; there was something calming, something soothing, and something _natural_ about watch the sun returning to the other side of the planet and lighting up a new day for someone else.

He always watched sunset from the hillside highway in the city, or the roof of the Shop, or sometimes, on top of the hills near the city. It's not often that he would be enjoying a sunset from the balcony of one a high-end hotel in downtown Tokyo. The altitude, the view, the silhouettes, and the landscape are very different from there. Where he'd usually see black shadows of treetops and residences, he now sees high-rise office towers, expensive designer apartment or condos, and high-end hotels not unlike the one he was currently staying in. Today, though, he wasn't particularly at leisure to enjoy much. Every now and then, he could catch shadows of trained shinigami combing the city sky, still carrying out the aerial search of the city for Misawa Rena. But the search party has no idea that the target was only hidden from their plain sight by two layers of thin curtains in front of a ceiling-to-floor glass door. Then again, who would have wanted to look inside every single room in downtown Tokyo to check for Misawa, even if they thought of it?

There was his stroke of genius. Urahara Kisuke reminded Hitsugaya and Misawa that hiding deeper isn't always better. The Shinigami force would comb every inch of Japan for Misawa, but they have no definite leads so they wouldn't know where to focus. If they flashstepped out of the country they might leave behind a detectable trace and the search party would know. However, the shinigami would not expect Misawa to stay in Tokyo, so close to Karakura. On top of it all, downtown was bustling with people so it's really hard to isolate someone as skilled as hiding reiatsu as Misawa in a pool of spiritual energy like downtown Tokyo. Hitsugaya Toushirou chose one of the busiest hotels in the busiest part of the city. He and Misawa didn't raise much suspicion, either. They looked like two indiscreet teenagers getting away for a couple of days in the capital; the hotel gets a couple dozen of those everyday, and it wouldn't bother phoning the police or alerting anyone as long as they pay their bills.

He stayed with Misawa in a standard suite, with the standard two beds, TV set, mini-fridge, nightstand, writing desk, a coffee table between two chairs, and closer to the hall: a wardrobe and full bathroom. He spent the night watching TV, one pointless movie after another, while Misawa just collapsed onto a bed and fell asleep. Somewhere along the way, Hitsugaya dyed his hair brown as Urahara advised, for security's sake. He hated it; it looked, well, not like him, but the circumstance requires it, and at least it's not permanent. For a good part of the morning he wondered if the hair dye will come off completely (after 23 washes, as indicated on the bottle) because the last time he dyed his hair, the black dye left colored patches hair. It wasn't really serious by regular standards, but the tiniest specks of black stood out on his silvery-white hair, which looked like it was dirty with dirt.

Behind him in the room, the TV turned off with a soft clicking sound. Seconds later, Misawa joined him on the balcony, looking over to the west.

"You've missed the sunset." Hitsugaya murmured as he stared at the darkening red patch in the distant sky.

"I know." Misawa said flatly. Unconsciously, she lifted up her hand and ran it through her hair. It felt too weird. Her hair had always been almost waist-length with long side bangs. Now, she had bluntly cropped shoulder-length hair and short fringes that just brushed her eyebrows. She shook it out of the way and looked at the magenta skies. "I don't see any Stealth Force guys out here." She murmured.

"I think they gave up on the city already. After all, why would you stay in a place where you were chased from?" Hitsugaya responded nonchalantly, followed closely by a yawn. Misawa might have had her sleep, but he stayed up the entire night standing guard.

"They are not very bright, are they?"

"No, not really."

Misawa leaned back against the glass doors, and slid down to is the floor. She looked up at darkening skies and searched for shapes in the clouds. It was a futile effort to distract herself from the awkward silence between her and her companion. If it was anyone else, she would have tried to begin a conversation. If it was any other day, under any other circumstance, she would have tried something, anything to make her life easier. But now it was hopeless.

She never knew what she should do with the rest of her life. Up until now, she got to where she was stumbling around following one set of instructions after another without aim. However, the difference was that although she didn't know what she should do in a hundred years, she at least knew what she should do tomorrow and maybe the day after. But today was different. Today was different from what she planned yesterday. Today was horrible, tiring, and bitter, and today was almost over. And she didn't see a tomorrow worth living for.

As the city sky turned into the mystical mixture of purple, blue, and gray, Misawa Rena came to term with three facts.

One, her life would never go back to the way it was.

Two, she probably didn't have much of life left.

Three, until further notice, she was stuck with Hitsugaya Toushirou.

--End of Part II--


	16. Chapter 16

**PART III: BREAK OF THE WORLD**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Tentative Apocalypse**

-Tokyo-

Rena Misawa waited patiently for the sun to rise. Well, maybe patiently isn't the right word here. She wasn't impatient to see the sun, but she had no problem seeing it creep up slowly and lazily. The silhouette of the city's unnatural skyline, shaped by thousands of houses and office buildings of various styles and height, seemed like dark cardboard cut-out with a poor pair of scissors against the vermillion sun.

Soft footsteps approached from behind her. "You stayed up again." Hitsugaya Toushirou stated emotionlessly as he stopped next to the spot on the closed balcony where she sat all night.

Rena nodded, but did not reply. She didn't want to talk to him, because she knew exactly what was going on in his head. He disapproves of her staying up all night; his statement was more of a reprimand than an observation. The way he deals with people still hadn't changed over the 20 years. He would try his hardest to show not even an ounce of emotion until he reaches that limit, that breaking point that would expose him to be as human as everyone else around him. His famous icy façade once made hundreds of foes tremble at his feet was as clear to her as pure water. After all, she was wearing a similar mask to hide her own fears and grief.

He looked at her once more, sighed with a kind of frustration, and walked away.

She spent the night staring out the floor-to-ceiling window of the closed balcony of Hitsugaya Toushirou's apartment in Tokyo. It was a small and nice place that often served as his hideout when shinigami visiting the human world would stay at the Urahara Shop. Rena liked the place. It was cozy and functional, but not personal. There were no photos on the walls or the fridge; she could pretend that no one lived there at all. Better yet, she could pretend that she lived there, that she had a home somewhere for a change.

She never understood how she came to terms with her indictment. Perhaps she never did come to terms with it at all, but simply found a way to distract herself from such thoughts.

She watched the city skies outside intently. It was calm, clear, natural, and strangest of all, peaceful. She closed her eyes and really tried to sense the presences outside. Nothing. And then an alarm went of in her head.

"Something happened last night." She blurted out in an urgent voice as she stood up and turned her back to the window in one sweeping motion. Hitsugaya Toushirou, who had his head buried in a ridiculously thick book titled _Crime and Punishment_ looked up without much expression on his face.

"What do you mean?"

"There's no one out there today. I can't feel a single notable spiritual entity other than you anywhere in the city fifty feet up from the ground." Rena replied.

"Are you sure?" Hitsugaya asked. His book is now closed and his full attention is diverted to his companion. If her observations were correct, then something important must have happened. From both their experiences they, they've gathered that the Gotei 13 wouldn't give up searching for their traitor just a week after the initial indictment, especially not when a captain was charged with treason.

"I'm sure. They were still all over the place yesterday evening. Only five of them were in town during the night and they all left together this morning in a gate. I thought it was a shift change and that another search team is going to take over for today, but no one is here. The resident shinigami in charge of hollow activities in this region left just minutes after them."

Hitsugaya thought it over in his head. What he was hearing didn't make sense. However, it didn't sound like Misawa's senses were dull because she could still give details about time, but her observations were too irregular. He looked back at her. She was staring at the ground, and although she didn't say it, he could see a hint of worry and fear in her eyes from across the room.

"Don't jump to conclusions." He ordered calmly. "We'll keep observing until we have something conclusive to go on. If not, I'm sure someone is going to bring us some news sooner or later."

Rena nodded and forced a smile that did not reach her eyes. Hitsugaya wanted to say something comforting to her, but eventually decided against it.

There were a few seconds of deep silence, until several thoughts came together in Rena's head. She suddenly said, "We should go back to Nagoya." stopping Hitsugaya in his tracks.

"What? Are you crazy?" He blurted out in response, completely astonisehed.

"There's no one outside right now. I can cover both of our spiritual pressures well enough. If we shunpo we'll be there in 5 minutes." Rena explained. She was already reaching for her Soul Candy dispenser.

Hitsugaya pulled her wrist away from the dispenser on the counter. He was stunned. "Are you crazy?" He reiterated, "Do you have any danger how much trouble that could cause? They will be able to track you if they could get your rietsu for even the shortest span of time. And what's with the sudden inspiration anyways? Are you feeling alright?"

Rena sighed and straight into his eyes. His eye were so deep, thoughtful, and calculating, but hers had a new light, a flash of confidence that was missing for the past couple of weeks. In her head, Rena knew that she could sound ridiculous, but she needed him to take her seriously, or at least hear her out. She hadn't thought so clearly in a long time, not since the whole mess that ensued since Takeo's promotion.

"Listen to me. We never found out what Aizen was doing in the human world, but we knew it was in Nagoya, and that it was important enough that we couldn't even see it. If we do get a peek at it, I'm sure it will put Aizen into a worse position, since he is so secretive about it. Now, the thing is how can we surprise Aizen? Aizen knew our every move; I bet he even knows that we are both hiding in Tokyo right now. We can't outwit Aizen. He is just too smart and powerful. So if we randomly do something incredibly stupid like rushing to Nagoya in middle of day, he probably wouldn't expect and guard against that."

Hitsugaya listened to her plan. He had to agree that it sounded crazy enough to almost make sense, but it couldn't be that simple, could it? They were talking about Aizen, the master mind behind countless successful yet highly dangerous and complex plots. Could Misawa really get what Aizen intended to hide? Misawa was an intelligent person, but as uncharacteristic as it was for someone like her, she was also at times a ridiculously reckless risk-taker and famous for making quite a few incredible lucky breaks. If they want to make it out alive against both Aizen and Soul Society, they were going to need a whole lot power, wit, luck, and whatever else they could get, especially in Misawa's plan to out-dumb Aizen.

"But still," He argued, "How do you even know he'll still be there? How do you even know he won't notice us on the way and move everything or kill us both?"

"Well, that's the gamble. I'm not sure if he'll still be there or not, but I have been to the Nagoya facility and to be honest, it looked pretty clean and tidy. He could move back in anytime he wants. But the last time, according to Soul Society's special equipment, it took them five minutes to pull out when I was in town. They can't get evacuate completely before we get there. As for our safety, it wouldn't be in his interest to kill us right now, not if Soul Society is diverting so much attention seeking us. Now, if you are not coming, I'm going by myself." Rena declared.

She pushed away his hand and took the dispenser.

-Soul Society-

Matsumoto Rangiku kneeled in front of Captain Commander Yamatomo in the First Division Meeting Hall. The two lines of Captains on either side of her looked down at her, some with pity and others emotionless.

To Rangiku, every pair of eyes felt like a set of spears boring into her flesh. She hated being in this position, being at the mercy of other people's pity. But here she is again. For the third time in her life, she wondered if there was something that she could have said to make him stay.

However, this time, she didn't care about Nakamoto personally as much as she cared about he did to her squad. Still, his actions brought back a lot of personal bad memories. There were people whom she cared about that left her here, and she hated knowing that she wasn't worth staying for. She hated the fact that Gin ultimately chose his master and power over his friend. She hated the fact that Hitsugaya chose to avenge Hinamori over his division and his lieutenant. Now she also loathes Nakamoto choosing power over his responsibilities.

Suddenly, the case of Misawa's so called "treason" flew out the window and all anyone ever talked about was Nakamoto's betrayal. Everyone saw that surveillance video of his last conversation with Minami and him leaving. This time, Soul Society was smarter and recorded the audio as well. Everyone now knew that they have been played by Minami Toro, the crafty prodigy lieutenant of Division Five who is actually Aizen's spy. Misawa's death sentence on the basis of contacting Aizen's spy –Hitsugaya Toushirou – was lifted, but her capture was still requested on the grounds of establishing secret communication with a rogue shinigami.

Even with that somewhat resolved, Soul Society was still in frenzy. Suddenly they are missing the combat capabilities of two captains and one lieutenant, and two Divisions are without leaders.

"The Tenth and Fifth division will be joining the combat in this current war." Yamamoto announced. "Both Divisions will be under the temporary command of the First Division. Matsumoto-Fukutaicho, you will be serving as an unofficial auxiliary lieutenant in the First Division to oversee the affairs of the Fifth and Tenth division for now."

"Yes, Soutaicho!" Matsumoto replied robotically.

She was dismissed from the meeting after receiving her orders, and left the room.

Inside the meeting hall, the atmosphere was heavier than ever. Four weeks into a new war and they've already two captains and one lieutenant without even a battle. They were still as clueless about Aizen's plan as they were at the beginning, and they were in no better position to figure it out.

"We will carry on our current preparations for battle…" Yamamoto began, but he was interrupted.

"Soutaicho," Ichigo Kurosaki spoke up, rather awkwardly. He had always been reprimanded for his bad manners and he learned a long time ago that the best way to avoid getting shouted at for his poor etiquette was being absolutely silent. Well, silent until he had something to say. "Uh, since we've already established that Rena isn't betraying us, can we just clear her off her charges and let her come back? If being short on people and commanders are such a big issue right now, wouldn't it be—"

"Silent, Kurosaki!" The Captain Commander ordered. "Misawa Rena broke numerous regulations in the past few weeks. Although the previous death sentence placed on her was lifted, she could still very well be sentenced to death in the trials for her other infringements."

Ichigo kept his mouth shut as ordered, although he doesn't seem happy about it. Most people in the room understood were Kurosaki's idea was coming from, but they also understood the impracticality of it. Being short on fighters is one thing, but inviting former fugitives back into office is hardly the best solution. Misawa's mistake was understandable, but that wouldn't stop it from being a mistake. Just like Nakamoto's situation is pitiable, but that wouldn't stop him from being killed either in battle or in court of law by Soul Society.

Everyone also cautiously avoided the question of Misawa's narrow escape. Everyone now knew that someone with a lot of authority tipped the former captain off, but no one dared to throw accusations around in this atmosphere. Right now, the Gotei Thirteen needs to stay together and fight a war; now is not the time for internal bickering and politicking.

"…As I was saying," The Head Captain continued, "We still need to gather intelligence in what Aizen is up to. This time, his most likely course of action is going straight through Soul Society and taking down the Royal Realm by force. We've already received intelligence that with the combined power of his new set of Espada, he may be able to."

The room shuffled uncomfortably. The last time Aizen wasn't even close to being able to try and take the Royal Realm by force, but him and his army were already such formidable foes. The Gotei 13 didn't change that much. There were a few promising new faces scattered throughout the Divisions, but they were far from ready to fight a battle at the anticipated scale.

"We have received data," The head captain began again, "that Nagoya has been experiencing more violent spiritual activity. I called back the forces searching for Misawa in human world back; they will regroup and go on an emergency reconnaissance, and if necessary, combat mission to Nagoya tomorrow." The old man announced.

The members of meeting nodded in response. Someone was about to say something, but he never got it out. Then the room went deathly silent.

They all felt it, and they were all crushed by the sheer severity of the situation.

The realization was a terrifying one; it was ringing in their face and resounding in their head like a loud, annoying, broken alarm time.

-Outskirts of Nagoya-

Rena Misawa closed her eyes so she could concentrate harder on regulating Hitsugaya's spiritual pressure. It's not an easy task to shunpo and completely mask one's spiritual pressure at the same time, but thankfully both Histugaya and Misawa were very adept in that field, and Misawa specialized in reitsu control.

Hitsugaya piggy-backed her as he literally ran across the country. One of her arms locked firmly around his shoulder and neck, and her other palm was on top of one of his arms to process any excess reitsu that he was emitting in the process.

The cold wind against her skin felt like a million blades repeatedly slicing her skin. She buried her faced behind him to hide from the sharp gusts of winds, and felt his spiritual fluctuate for a split second when her nose touched the fabric of the clothing on his back. "Thank you for coming with me." She whispered.

He said nothing. He was against this, but he couldn't let her charge into Nagoya to take a peek at Aizen's pet project when she was in so much danger. So he came, and he offered to carry her because he was much faster in shunpo. After his training with Yoruichi, he was faster than Rena even when he carried her. He finally slowed down when the city of Nagoya came into his sight, and with two more significantly smaller and carefully calculated steps, they stopped in front of the mysterious warehouse in the corner of the city.

"Did anyone tail us?" Hitsugaya asked as he put her down on her foot. She shook her head and then turned to look at the warehouse. It only took second for them to absorb the situation around them.

It was nice and sunny day. Everything seemed so normal in Nagoya, until one starts to focus on the spiritual activity. The presences in the city were so immense, and the fluctuation so great that Misawa was once again on the verge of passing out. In the few short seconds that it took for her to adjust to the spiritual fluctuation, they were all gone. But this time, they weren't running away.

A by passer would not understand why the two teenagers had such terrified expressions as they stood in front of the door of a warehouse, although the said by passer have to be able to see spirits. Of course, there wouldn't be any by-passers. Any normal human or spirits would not be able to stay conscious or even alive in those conditions. A normal human would not know that 25 incredibly powerful beings just passed through a forbidden portal into a place called Soul Society. They are more than ready to fight even the most powerful members of the Gotei 13, and their strength is more than enough to guarantee an easy, swift, and decisive victory.

------------end----------------

Review please :)

A/N: I'm still open to name suggestions for arrancars. I'd love it if you help out!


	17. Author's Note

I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry about not updating this story. It had been two very trying years of my life and this pet project of mine had to be sidelined.

However, I have no intention of abandoning my readers. **I am rewriting Unknown Intentions**. I'm publishing the rewrite as a new story.

A few things about the rewrite:

1. The premise of the my main plotline is not going to change: Hitsugaya's betrayal, the twenty-year time skip, the return of the Arrancar's etc. However, I'm trying to make amendments so they are in line with the Manga as of the end of the Aizen arc. Let's just say Ichigo gets his shinigami powers back. I'm not going to change that. It's probably going to happen one way or another anyways.

2. It will be longer than the original. I'm adding in a lot of charaterization and some extra scenes. I suppose it is motivation for you to read it. I have to admit that the tone of the story changed a bit. But it's not that major with the first few chapters that I'm done re-writing.

3. I already have the plotline mostly thought out. There are forewshadowing in the story, even in the first chapter!

4. The characters will be treated slightly differently. I'm toning down on Rena's sueness in the first few chapters. Takeo gets more attention to his character. Hinamori is staying alive, though she won't be too involved in the story.

5. The chapters will be divided differently.

6. I'm not sure about this yet, but I don't plan on making romance a big thing.

Those are the big things. If you plan to read it, then I hope you will have as much with the rewrite as you did with the original. If not, well, thank you for your support to this point.

But for all of my readers, a big **BIG THANK YOU! **to you all for all of your hits, subscriptions, favorites, and reviews. I hope you had and will have as much fun reading as I do writing!

-Teal


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